The unexpected surprise
by Dragonfly Rider
Summary: First in the Secrets Series The turtles go to visit April and find someone they didn't expect to... Mild romance in later chapters. OC fic.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT, or any of the related characters. Only the onesI invent myself.

**THE UNEXPECTED SURPRISE** (A/N:Yes, I know, lame name. I mightchange it sometime. Not sure.)

"Come on, guys," Leo called over his shoulder. His three brothers raced along the rooftops after him. They were on their way to visit their friend, April O'neil. She had been on a holiday for the last two weeks, and they wanted to see her.

They finally reached their destination, panting and out of breath.

"Major stitch, bro!" Mikey moaned, clutching his stomach. "Lets stop for a rest."

"You need to practice stamina," Leo told Mike sternly. "Come on."

His brothers followed him onto April's apartment's roof. Raph broke the lock on the roof door with his sai and disappeared inside. Leo, Mikey and Don went in after him, making sure to close the door behind them.

They snuck downstairs, keeping a lookout for any resident of the building. The hallways were deserted. They reached Aprils door and knocked.

"Who is it?" an unfamiliar voice asked. They heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Scatter!" Leo hissed, jumping up and catching hold of the light fixture in the hallway. He hoisted himself up and hung there, motionless. His brothers followed him. They hung there, trying to make as little sound as possible.

The door opened. A girl about their age with reddish-brown hair stepped out into the hallway, eyes flicking from side to side, searching for the person who had knocked. She shrugged.

"Must have been mistaken," she murmured to herself. She turned and disappeared into the house, closing the door behind her.

Don dropped to the floor, looking worried.

"What is she doing in April's house?" he asked. "April didn't say she had guests over."

Raph shrugged.

"You worry to much, bro'," he informed the purple-clad turtle. "April can take care of herself."

"He _likes _her!" Mikey crowed. Donny flushed a darker green.

"I do not!" he retorted, not meeting Mikey's eyes.

"That's enough Mikey," Leochided the younger turtle sternly. "No teasing. We'll come back later and check on the place, okey?" he added, turning to Don. Don nodded.

A/N: What did you think? Please R&R, as usual, and tell me if you like it. I know, a bit lame, but it'll get better!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here you go! Chapter 2. . . Hope it won't disappointyou! Many thanks to those who reviewed!

Chapter 2.

Akasha.

Akasha yawned and looked at her watch. It was 9:46 P.M. She should go to bed; she had school tomorrow, not that she cared. She didn't fit in, had no friends, and didn't enjoy her schoolwork, partially because she rarely received good grades.

She looked down at the book she had been reading. The one thing she loved was books. She read whenever she could, at night, in school during breaks, or if the teacher started to rant; she always slipped a paperback into her jeans' pocket for these occasions.

Akasha smiled to herself. She had read one particularly interesting book recently; April's journal. Her Auntie April, as she had called her when she was little, had given her a spare key to her apartment in case she ever needed it. Yesterday, one such occurance had happened. She had gotten into a fight in school, and needed a place to clean up before heading back home. Bored, not wanting to have to go home yet, she had poked around until she had found it, stuffed on the bookshelf in the bedroom. She had read a good third of it.

Akasha flipped through the journal in her lap. She found a pencil sketch of a giant turtle with a staff in one hand. It had a purple bandana around it's eyes, with slits to see through. She had seen several of these, but this one seemed to have been drawn in great detail. It was also coloured in.

The entire journal was full of these strange beings, not a page without a reference to them. Akasha found it immensely interesting. April's neat handwriting depicted a great many visits to their 'lair' as it was called.

Akasha's eyelids drooped. _I gotta get some rest, _she thought tiredly. _I'll call in sick tomorrow, I think . . _. sheslid into a deep sleep, the journal cradled in her arms.

Don woke up. He felt stiff all over. He had fallen asleep at his desk, as usual, a book lying open in frontof him. Then he remembered April. He needed to check on her! The only half-consious turtle pushed his chairback and got up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He closed the rather bent bookand shoved it onto the bookshelf next to his bed. Then he proceeded to the door.

He made his way to the kitchen, and made some tea. Just then, Leo came in.

"Hey, Donny," he greeted his brother. He opened the fridge door and rummaged around until he pulled out a bar of chocolate. He unwrapped it and stuffed the whole thingi nto his mouth.

"Hungry?" Don asked, raising his eye ridges.

"Starving," Leo mumbled around the mouthful of half-chewed chocolate. "Are we going to check on April?"

"Yeah," Don said. "Should I go wake Mike and Raph?"

"No, they're coming," Leo replied, swallowing."Mikey _said _that he set his alarm."

"Don't count on it," Don warned his older brother."I saw him hide his alarm clock in his drawer." Leo looked at Don. Don shrugged.

"Are we going togo check on April or what?" he asked.

A/N: I'll have to work on doing longer chapters. I hope you like it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, here is chapter three. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

First impressions.

The TMNT crouched on the fire escape of April's apartment building, peering through the living room window. Mikey held his ginger cat, Klunk, in his arms.

"Klunk is hungry," he told his brothers, scritching the cat behind his ears. Klunk purred loudly.

"If you can't make him be quiet, Mikey, you'll have to take Klunk back to the lair," Leo told the younger turtle. "You shouldn't have brought him, anyway."

"But Klunk was bored!" Mikey whined. "He never gets to come on ninja missions."

"And you wonder why?" Raph snapped. "Just shut up!" Mikey glowered at his older brother.

Suddenly the girl from the day before strolled into the room, balancing a plate of pizza on one hand, and holding a video in the other. She slipped the video into the VCR and sat on the sofa, munching on her pizza.

"I don't see April," Don muttered, scanning the room.

"We can see that," Raph informed him.

"Enough!" Leo ordered. But it was too late. The girl had heard the noise and got up. She came over to the window and opened it, sticking her head out to look around. As the turtles scrambled farther up the fire escape, Klunk began to meow.

"Klunk, be quiet!" Mikey hissed frantically. The ginger tom wriggled out of his owners' grasp and trotted towards the open window. He jumped onto the window ledge and rubbed his head against the surprised girls' arm.

"Where did you come from, little guy?" she asked, petting him. "You look like Klunk. I saw a picture of you."

"What?" Mikey said in astonishment. Raph slapped a hand over his brothers' mouth, but the girls' head had already jerked up.

"Who's there?" she didn't look scared. She looked annoyed.

"Iknow who you are," she told the hidden turtles. "I recognize your cat. Either show yourselves, or I'll keep him in here until you do!"

"What are you talking about?" Raph lost patience.

"Come out and I'll tell you," the girl snapped.

"Can I have Klunk back now?" Mikey stepped out of the shadows, holding out his hands. His brothers flinched, expecting the girl to scream, but she just looked him up and down before handing the squirming cat back to him.

"I think he's hungry," she told the orange-clad turtle, motioning to his charge. "I can get you some milk for him or somthing, if you like."

"Yeah, thanks, dudette," he replied. "Come on, guys!"

"Are you _insane?_" Raph demanded.

"She seems okay," Leo argued. "Klunk does look hungry." He followed Mikey through the open window. Raph and Don came reluctantly.

The girl switched the television off, and went to the kitchen. She filled a saucer of milk and put it on the linolium floor for Klunk, who lept out of Mikey's arms and ran towards it, tail waving eagerly.

"How do you know about us?" Raph asked suspiciously.

"And why are you in April's house?" Don querried.

"Who are you, anyway?" Mikey piped up.

"I'm Akasha," the girl said. "I got in here because my aunt gave me a spare key."

"April is your aunt?" Don asked in surprise. Akashanodded.

"How do you know about us?" Raph repeated.

"I read April's journal," Akasha said matter-of-factly. "She's sketched you guys loads of times, and written about all your adventures as well. You're Raph-" she pointed to him- "And you're Don, Leo, and Mikey," she correctly pointed to all of them in turn."I've just got to the part where you find Klunk. She drew him, too. That's how I knew."

They stared at her, speechless.

"What?" she demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Most people who see us scream and run away," Don explained. "You don't seem to care."

"I've seen weirder," Akasha informed him dryly. "You all appear more or less humanoide at least. You can talk and everything, can't you?" they nodded. "There you go, then. You're just a little, er_, greener _than everyone else." Mikey grinned.

"Do you know when April iscoming back?" Leo asked.

"No idea," Akasha said cheerfully. "I thought she'd've been back by now. I phoned her cell, but she didn't pick up."

"Can we stay here until she gets back?" Leo asked politely.

"It's not my house," Akasha said. "Do what you like. Just don't mess with my stuff," she glared at Mikey who had been riffling through a pile of comics on the table.

"But you've got thewhole second season here," he moaning with longing. "Can I have a look?"

"Fine, but don't rip any," she warned him. Mikey whooped and sat down to read them.

Klunk finnished his milk and jumped up on the table where he curled up and promptly went to sleep. Akasha grinned at Don, Raph and Leo.

"So, what do you wanna do?" she asked them. "I've been bored out of my skull, not having anyone to talk to!"

"Well," Leo began. "You could tell us why you needed to come here in the first place . . ."

A/N:So, what did you think? Reviews are welcomed, as always. wink, wink, nudge, nudge


	4. Chapter 4: Spilled Milk

A/N: Well, here's chapter four. I put a bit of Akasha's background into this one, hope you approve. I might change it a bit, we'll see.

Chapter 4

Spilled Milk.

April stepped out of the elevator and into the dimly lit hall. She trudged down it, dragging a suitcase behind her. She reached her apartment door and leaned her suitcase against the wall, delving in her bag with the other hand for her keys. Her fingers met cold metal. She drew the ring of keys out and fumbled for the right one, stifling a yawn; she was exhausted from the long plane trip.

The lock clicked, and the doorknob turned with a rusty squeak. April grabbed her case and hauled it into the living room, shutting the door behind her. She stumbled into the kitchen, nearly tripping over a saucer on the floor. Liquid slopped onto the shiny surface.

"Who left a saucer of milk on the floor?" April wondered, stooping to pick it up.

"Sorry," a voice behind her said. April jumped and turned around, skidding on the spilled milk. She grabbed the edge of the counter to stop herself from falling, frantically trying to see who had spoken. Her neice Akasha stood there, a glass of juice in one hand, and a guilty expression on her face.

"Akasha?" April sputtered. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at home?" Akasha walked over to her aunt and helped her to her feet, avoiding the milk.

"I got in a fight at school, and I needed a place to clean up," the girl said. "And I figured that it wouldn't matter if I stayed a little longer . . ." she trailed off.

April regained her composure and propped one hand on her hip, trying her best to glare at Akasha through eyes that refused to focus from lack of sleep.

"Your mother will be worried," April told the younger girl, opening a cupboard in search for rags to clean up the milk. "I know you two don't exactly see eye-to-eye-" Akasha snorted contemptuously- "but you're all she's got since your dad passed away, and you're never there. Give her a chance, Akasha! She deserves it, even if you don't think so!"

"She does not!" Akasha spat, snatching up the rags from the cupboard and starting to scrub at the floor with undue ferocity. "The things she does to those animals! It's not fair! I'd like to mutate _her_ into a bloodthirsty monster. She can't get much worse!"

"Er, are we interrupting?" the turtles stood in the doorway, looking a little embarrassed at walking in on a private conversation. April stared at them.

"What are _you _doing here?" she asked.

"They came to check on you," Akasha explained, looking more than a little ashamed at the way she had just spoken to her aunt. "So they decided to spy on me to see if I was stealing stuff or whatever, but I caught them at it."

"And you didn't mind their, er, peculier appearance?" April asked, looking a little confused.

"My mom has seen to that," Akasha said bitterly, returning to mopping up the milk. "Compared to what _she _deals with, they're practically normal! Besides, they were worried about you, so they decided to stay 'till you got back."

"And anyway, it's not as if she'd never seen us before," Mikey interjected. "She'd seen your sketches of us in your journ-" Akasha slapped her hand over his mouth, cutting him off. April's eyes narrowed.

"You what?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at her neice.

"Er," Akasha sidled towards the door. "Well you see . . ."

"You read my journal?" April demanded, coming towards the squirming girl.

"Was I not supposed to say that?" Mike asked.

"Ya think?" Raph rolled his eyes.

"Just how far did you get, exactly?" April growled.

"Oh, you know, here and there-" Akasha began to say, but April overtook her.

"What page number?" she asked.

"Er, umm, two hundred and sixty-four," Akasha invented wildly. April shook her head.

"I haven't got that far yet," she informed the girl. "What's the real number?"

"I don't know! I've just got to the part where you found Klunk, I think." April sighed with relief.

"That's okay, then," she said. Akasha's eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"What aren't I allowed to read?" she asked.

"Never mind," April replied hastily. "I'm going to bed. You can all leave now-" She was drowned out by a wave of complaints.

"We haven't finnished our card game!"

"Can I just read a bit more? Please?"

"But I've almost figured out the moleculor system of a-"

"Enough!" Leo roared. The others quieted. "If April wants us to leave, we'll leave."

"They can sleep in the living room," Akasha said abruptly. "I'll get some blankets." She ran off.

"Sometimes I wonder if this is even my house any more," April muttered to herself, following the grinning turtles into the living room. Behind them, Klunk began to lap up the unattended pool ofmilk.

A/N: So? What da ya think? Please review, and tell me if there is anything I should change.


	5. Chapter 5: Apelike wolfbeast

A/N: Many apologies for my lame chapter name. My BFF (Silverwinged Griffin) hit the 'Submit' button before I could object. But I honestly couldn't come up with another one, so oh well. In case you were wondering, my story is set in the new cartoon series. Hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 5

Ape-like wolf-beast.

April grimaced as she wiped flecks of scrambled eggs off her tank top. She, Akasha and the turtles were in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Mikey was attempting - and failing - to fry eggs, with much flailing of limbs and airborn pieces of egg. Leo and Don were setting the table. Raph was still in bed, and Akasha was helping her aunt wash up the dishes from the night before. Akasha had pursuaded April to let her stay for a little while longer, although she made Akasha phone her mother and let her know. Akasha had put up a fight, but in the end she gave in and left a message on her mother's answering machine.

"Is Raph up yet?" Akasha asked, dodging a chunk of egg from Mike.

"No," April said. The egg hit her on the shoulder, leaving a greasy mark.

"Sorry, April!" Mikey apologized. Akasha snickered.

"Do you want me to do that?" she asked, pointing to the yellow mass in the frying pan.

"I can do it!" Mike protested stubbornly. "I just need to practice!"

"I doubt you'll ever be able to fry eggs, Mikey," Leo joked as he placed a plate on the table. "No matter how much you practice." Mike chucked a lump of egg at his older brother, who easily jumped aside. It smacked Don on the back of the head.

"Hey!" he said. "Would you be careful, please?"

"I was aiming for Leo," Mikey grumbled, turning back to the stove. April went over to Don.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, fine," Don muttered, staring pointedly at the floor.

Akasha and Mikey traded meaningful glances.

"What's all the noise?" Raph walked in, yawning loudly.

"Mikey's making breakfast again," Akasha informed the red-banded turtle. He looked slightly disgusted at this news.

"Oh, great, I just fancy scrambled eggs," he said sarcastically.

"_Fryed _eggs," Mikey corrected.

"Yeah, whatever." Raph sat at the table, straightening his bandana. "Are ya goin' home today?" he asked Akasha.

"No," she said, sounding relieved. "April's letting me stay longer. How 'bout you?"

"We should go see Splinter," Raph shrugged. "He doesn' know we're here yet. Ya should come with us, an' meet him."

"Maybe," Akasha said absently, drying the inside of a saucepan with a deft stroke of her cloth. "When are you going?"

"After breakfast, I think," Raph replied. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Akasha sniffed the air. "Do I smell smoke?"

She was answered by a yelp from Mikey. The frying pan had burst into flames.  
"Turn it OFF!" April yelled. Mikey fumbled with the dials on the stove. He managed to turn them down. The fire died instantly.

"Phew," Mikey puffed, wiping his forehead. "Do you wanna order takeout or somthing? Unless you'd rather eat this." He presented them with the blackened interior of the frying pan.

"Chinese sounds good," Akasha said hurriedly. "I'll order, shall I?"

The turtles and Akasha made their way along in the sewers, skirting heaps of garbage. Akasha wrinkled her nose at the foul stench.

"How do you guys live down here?" she asked. "Don't you lose your sense of smell or something?" Mikey grinned.

"You get used to it," he told her.

"Come on!" Leo called from ahead of them. "Sensei will be worried if we don't get there soon."

"We're comin', Leo," Raph said. They reached a large steel door. It filled the whole end of the tunnel from floor to ceiling. Don walked forward. A small panel opened revealing a tiny keyboard. Don punched in a combination. The door grated and opened. Akasha gasped.

The lair was large and circular, a metal staircase led to a balcony that wrapped all the way around it. Along it, several door stood. She guessed they were the bedrooms.

A living area was to one side, complete with a multi-screened television set. A black-haired man sat there, the battered remote in his hand. He looked extremely bored, and flicked channels rapidly. At the sound of the door opening, he turned around in surprise. A look of glee crossed his face.

"Guys!" he called happily. "Watcha bin' doin'? An' who's the chick?" he gestured to Akasha.

"This is Akasha," Leo told the man. "Akasha, this is Casey Jones, one of our friends." Akasha nodded to him.

"Where's Splinter?" Don asked Casey. Casey pointed to a set of double doors at the other end of the lair.

"Meditatin', or sumthin'. Don't ask me, he just told me not ta' touch nothin'." He shrugged.

The turtles headed for the room.

"You'd better stay here, Akasha," Raph warned her. "He might not be to happy with us at the moment." Akasha watched as the traipsed through the doors. A gleam of light caught her eye. It was a glass paperweight. She walked over to it.

It sat on a bookshelf, on top of a pile of ancient parchment diagrams. Her eyes strayed to the books on the shelf. She ran her finger along the old cracked spines, tracing the words embossed in gold, faded with age. She loved old books. She slid a particularly interesting-looking volume off the shelf and let it fall open. She held it close to her face, closed her eyes, and breathed in its slightly musty scent.

"Whatcha doin'?" Casey had come up behind her. Akasha jumped violently and snapped the book shut, embarrassed at being caught in such a strange position.

"Nothing," she said quickly, her cheeks turning red. "I was just looking at some books." She scanned the front cover for the first time. It was in Japanese, she thought. She did not know any Japanese. Perhaps the turtles did?

"You are Akasha, I presume?" She spun around. An aged rat stood before her, a walking stick grasped in one clawed hand. He cocked his head, fixing her with a beady black stare.

"Yeah, that's me," Akasha shrugged. The turtles stood behind their sensei. They looked slightly ashamed for some reason.

"My sons tell me that you are Miss O'neil's neice. She had not told us she had one." He said it as if he was merely stating a simple fact, but Akasha recognized him to be requesting answeres. She sighed.

"My mom isn't a person that April wanted to mention," she said. "She is, um, a bit …strange, I guess, to those who don't know her. She's a scientist, actually. Not many people get along with her." Splinter nodded.

"Yes, scientists usually get, er, caught up in their work. I have experienced this in Donatello." He motioned to the purple-clad turtle to his right. Don looked a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, Donny sure is a tech freak," Raph agreed.

"My mom's more into mutating animals and humans into monsters," Akasha said gloomily. Splinter looked at her sorrowfully.

"I see," he said quietly.

He seemed to notice the book she was holding.

"You like books?" he asked her. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep, I love books." She stroked the book's cover. "What does this say, anyway?" She showed Splinter the volume she held.

"It is an old book I used to read to my sons," Splinter told her. "It was one of their favorites. Japanese legands, I believe."

Casey laughed loudly at something on TV. Splinter shook his head.

"Will you join us for dinner, Miss-?"

"Andrews," Akasha said. "Akasha Andrews. My mother took on my fathers' name. She didn't keep 'O'neil'."

"Miss Andrews, then. Would you stay? We are having pizza, I believe. My sons insisted."

"Pizza, huh? Sure. I like pizza, just no anchovies."

"Here, here!" Mikey called.

"I'll call April, shall I?" Don asked quickly. "She could come down too."

Mikey tipped Akasha a huge wink.

"What?" Don asked in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing. You go and call April," Mikey smirked, shoving Don towards the phone on the table next to the TV set.

"He is so totally _obvious! _" Mikey said pityingly, watching his brother eagerly type in April's phone number.

"Leave him be, Mike," Akasha told the orange-banded turtle sternly. "Are you gonna order the pizza?"

Mikey pulled out a small shell-shaped cell phone from his belt and began to dial the pizza delivery number. Akasha followed the other turtles towards a long wooden table in yet another part of the lair. She sat down next to Raph.

"Case, ya comin'?" he called to the black-haired man.

"Yeah, be right there," was the careless reply.

April soon arrived, the pizza soon afterwards. Casey slouched over form the TV set and began to wolf down pizza. April and Splinter were the only ones with any manners, Akasha noted.

"So, my sons, will you be staying here tonight?" Splinter asked after the turtles' fifth course. "Or has Miss O'neil been hospitable enough to let you stay at her apartment?"

Leo swallowed the last of his pizza before answering.

"I think we were going to stay at April's," he said. "If it's okay?" he turned to April questioningly. She shrugged.

"You can stay if you want," she drained her glass of fruit punch. "It would give Akasha something to do. She's not prepared to go home yet, I don't think."

Akasha shook her head vigorously.

"We can stay at April's place then, right?" Mikey asked his sensei, grinning evilly at Don. Akasha kicked his shins under the table.

"Ow! Whaaaat?" he whined.

"Behave yourself Michelangelo," Splinter told his youngest son.

"We'd better get some've our things, then," Raph said, chewing on a crust. "Mikey'll prob'ly wanna get some comics an' stuff."

"Nah, I can read Akasha's," Mike replied. Akasha glared at him. "If she'll let me," he added quickly.

"Come on, guys," Leo got to his feet and began to pile plates together to take to the kitchen. "It's getting late."

They cleared the table and washed and dryed the dishes. Then the turtles said goodbye to their sensei and left. Casey decided to accompany them.

The seven of them were soon topside, sneaking along towards April's apartment.

"Ugh, what's that smell?" Akasha hissed.

"We're not in the sewers any more, Ash," Mikey reminded her.

"I know that! But that smell. Is reminds me of something… I can't remember…"

"Come on, we're almost there!" Leo skirted a garbage can and headed for the side door.

"Wait!" Akasha sniffed the air. "Something doesn't feel right." She heard a noise behind her. She whirled around.

And screamed.

The creature that stood before her stepped forward into the light of a nearby street lamp. The light illuminated a hulking figure. It greatly resembled a wolf, mangy fur covering most of its body, but it was much bigger, and stood on its back feet, and leaned on its knuckles, like an ape. It snarled, flecks of foam sprayed the turtles and their companions.

The turtles drew their weapons. Don pushed April behind him.

The monster roared and lunged forward, slicing at them with its long yellowish claws. Raph dodged and jumped onto the wolf's back, punching it on the back of the neck. It had no effect; a heavy iron plate was securely fastened there with a thick chain around the beasts' neck.

"Help me with this!" he yelled to Leo. His brother jumped up beside him and sliced the chain with his katana. The wolf-mutant roared and rolled over on the ground, dislodging the turtles. It righted itself with a grunt, eyes searching for a target.

"Run!" Leo shouted at April and Akasha. "Get inside the b-" He was cut off as the beast's tail, armed with a long, sharp spike, soared out of nowhere and knocked him off his feet.

Casey struck the monster's side with his baseball bat. There was a splintering crash and the bat broke clean in two. Casey's eyes widened.

"Casey, look OUT!" Raph pushed his friend out of the way as the mutant lashed out with its front paw. It missed them by inches.

Don and Mike were struggling to tackle the thing's tail, with limited success. April tried to sidle around the creature to help them, but it saw her and snatched her up in its huge paw.

"APRIL!" Don screamed. He lept up onto the beasts arm and struck it, hard, on its elbow with his bo staff. It shrieked in agony as its elbow cracked with a dull crunch. It dropped April and retreated, howling in pain.

"Are you okay?" Akasha asked as she began to help her aunt to stand.

"Don?" she asked dazedly. "Where's Don?"

"I'm here," he ran up to April and knelt beside her. "You okay?"

"Yeah… What's happening?" she shook her head to clear it.

"We got rid of it. What was that thing?"

"Um, I've got an idea," Akasha said quietly. "I think it was one of my mom's experiments."

"What was it doing on the streets?" April seemed to be recovering. "She usually keeps them in her lab."

"Your mom creats these things!" Don looked horrified.

"I don't agree with her," Akasha said defensively.

"I imagined them a little _smaller,_" Don said, shuddering.

The other turtles came over to them, sheathing their weapons.

"Nice one, Don!" Raph gave his brother an enthusiastic high-three. "I didn't think ya had it in ya."

"Lets go," Leo said, starting towards the door to the apartment building. "It might come back."

The others caught up to him. April and Don lagged behind.

Akasha heard April mutter, "Thank you, Don," so that no one else could hear.

"Don't mention it," he said.

Akasha hurried to catch up with the others, leaving them in private.

A/N: Well? What are you waiting for! Review! (please)


	6. Chapter 6: An introduction and a plan

A/N: Okay people! Chapter 6 is here! I know it's long, but I think its nessecery to make up for my lousy first three chapters. Well what are you reading **this **for! Read the story!

Chapter 6

An introduction and a plan.

Akasha paced up and down, muttering rebelliously to herself. She had tried vainly to contact her mother, only leaving furious messages on the answering machine. Now that the machine was full, she couldn't even do that. She finally tired and sank onto the couch, massaging her temples.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked her.

"No!" she snapped. "I am not okay! My mother sent an evil monster after me! How can I be okay!"

"Chill, Ash," Mikey looked concerned. "Leo was just trying to be nice."

Akasha looked a little ashamed.

"Sorry," she apologized to Leo.

"No, that's okay," he said hurriedly. They fell into an awkward silence.

"Has April come back from the doctors yet?" Akasha asked, breaking the silence.

"She should be due back any minute," Leo said, consulting the clock on the mantelpiece.

Donatello came into the room.

"April just phoned, she's on her way," he said.

Sure enough, a key scraped in the lock and the door opened. April stood there, her foot in bandages and crutches in one hand. Casey supported her through the doorway.

"What, is it broken?" Leo asked, eyeing April's foot.

"Nah, jus' sprained," Casey replied, helping April to one of the chairs. "Tha doc sez ta keep it wrapped up for a couple 'o days an' see if it heals."

"Did that happen when the monster dropped you?" Don asked.

"Yes," April answered.

"I should have caught you, I'm sorry," Don hung his head.

"It's not your fault," April said quickly. Casey, for some reason, seemed angered by this innocent exchange.

"Oh, sure, it's okay if _Donny _doesn't catch you!" he burst out.

"Wha – ?" April began, but Casey had already stormed from the room.

There was a long awkward silance, broken when Raph entered the room.

"Hey guys, what's up-?" he stopped at the looks on their faces. "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," Akasha said quickly. But as she passed him on her way out, she muttered, "Me and Mikey will tell you later."

He looked curious but said nothing.

They stayed in for the remainder of the day. Casey dissappeared and did not return. Presumably he had gone home for the night. At nine o'clock Akasha decided to go to bed.

"I'm going to bed," she yawned loudly, stifling it with her hand. "Night, guys," she flapped a hand at them and departed.

She changed into her pyjamas and brushed her teeth before getting into bed. She had been allowed to sleep in April's room on a camp bed. A stack of books beside her bed enticed her. She chose 'Lady Knight' by Tamora Pierce and began to read. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She looked up.

Raph stood in the doorway, Mikey in tow.

Akasha frowned.

"What is it?" she demanded. "I just got to a good part."

"I was jus' wonderin', what happened earlier?" Raph sat cross-legged on the floor. Mikey followed suit.

"Oh, Casey got mad." Akasha recited the whole episode to Raph. When she was finished Raph whisled apprecieatively.

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" he asked.

"Who?" Akasha asked. "Don or Casey?"

"Both!" Raph snickered.

"Yes, but which does _she _like?" Akasha closed her book and pondered.

"What are you talking about?" Don came into the room.

"Ah, er, nothing!" the others stumbled, trying to come up with an excuse. Fortuantly they were saved as April herself entered on her crutches.

"Do you mind?" she asked them. "Akasha has school tomorrow, she needs sleep! Out, out!"

"Sorry April," the turtles muttered, trooping outside.

"Night, Ash!" Mikey called before April closed the door.

The next day dawned bright and early. Despite Akasha's complaints, April insisted that she go to school. So Akasha packed her backpack and left, grumbling.

"Now," April said, turning to the turtles as soon as Akasha disappeared. "If I know Akasha, she won't go to school, she'll either go home and wait until it would be safe to come back here, or, more likely, she will go somewhere else to hide out; I doubt she will go home after that monster attack. You need to follow her, and make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

"What about you?" Don asked April.

"I can't go anywhere with this foot, so Casey offered to come by and keep me company." Don looked a little taken aback.

"I could stay instead," he said.

"If we don't hurry, we'll lose her," Leo warned, watching Akasha disappear into a back alley across the street.

"Go ahead," April told Don. "I'll see you later, guys!"

They snuck outside using the roof door once again and followed Akasha. She had taken a sharp turn away from the school and now headed for a backalley not far from Central Park.

"Where's she going?" Mikey hissed.

Akasha took a quick look around before turning and bolting.

"You idiot, Mike! She heard you!" Raph snarled at his brother as the raced after her.

"She's fast!" Don puffed.  
Akasha led them farther and farther away from April's apartment building. Finally they found her, crouching behind an upturned garbage can.

"She might think we gave up if we keep quiet," Leo whispered. They held still. Eventually, Akasha looked cautiously around before setting off at a brisk trot. Their plan had worked.

They tailed her for a few more blocks. Suddenly they heard something up ahead. Akasha heard it too, and slowed.

A roar; something huge erupted from an alley on Akasha's left. It was the monster from a couple of nights ago. Its elbow seemed fine now, and it lunged at Akasha with its massive spiked tail.

The turtles drew their weapons and prepared to launch into battle, but the monster suddenly stopped and considered Akasha. Then it spoke.

"What are _you _doing here?"

Akasha looked startled.

"You can talk?"

"Yes."

Akasha started.

"Chris?" she asked tentetively.

The monster's face contorted into something like a grin.

"I didn't think you'd remember me. Do I sound different?"

"A bit. Your voice is deeper. Why did you attack me and my friends a few nights ago?" she asked him suddenly. "It _was _you, wasn't it?"

The wolf-like creature bowed its gigantic head.

"Yes, that was me. But I only meant to try and communicate with you. When I saw that redheaded woman that was with you," – "That was April," Akasha supplied – "I thought it was you; You have the same hair, and are almost the same height. I wanted to speak with you: Your mother sent several of us to search for you, and bring you home."

"_Did _she?" Akasha growled.

"She was worried," Chris shook his head. "You should be a little more sympathetic, Akasha."

"Hm. Are you hungry?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What do you have?" the mutant asked her.

Akasha rooted through her backpack and produced a handful of granola bars, a bag of chips, and an egg salad sandwich. She also found a couple of juice boxes and a paper bag full of red liquorish.

"I am starving," Chris announced, snuffling through the bag of potato chips. He drew back, crunching on the chips with obvious pleasure.

Mikey's stomach growled.

"What was that?" Chris's head came up. A growl emerged from between his buisily chewing teeth.

"Mikey, you can come out now," Akasha sighed.

"Thank you!" Mike came out from behind the garbage dumpster and sat down as far from Chris as possible before grabbing a granola bar and digging in.

"I didn't have breakfast this morning," he mumbled, wolfing down the bar.

"These are the same creatures that attacked me," Chris eyed Mikey with distrust.

"Only because _you _attacked _us_." Akasha pointed out. "They're okay, really."

The other turtles came out, and arranged themselves behind Akasha, watching Chris carefully.

"So," Mikey said, helping himself to a grape juice box. "How come you two know each other?"

"Oh, you know when I said that my mom mutates people and animals into monsters? She uses her lab assistants as testers for her mutagen. Chris was one of them." She looked miserable. "He used to entertain me when I was little, and mom had to take me to work. He disappeared a couple of months ago, obviously because my mom was mutating him."

"What are you doing wandering the streets?" Leonardo asked the hulking figure who had abandoned the chips and was now devouring the egg salad sandwich with much enthusiasm. "April told us that Akasha's mom usually keeps her, er, experiments in her lab."

Chris licked the remaining mayonaise from around his jaws before answering.

"Dr. Andrews sent several of us to search for Akasha. She had received a call from the school, informing her that Akasha had not attended lessons there for a couple of days. She grew worried, and decided to despatch a group of mutants – such as myself – to find her, and bring her home."

"I see," Leo chose a piece of liquorish and began to chew it thoughtfully.

Mikey was now studying Chris intently, while sucking the last of the liquid from his juice box. When it was done, he crushed it and threw it into an open garbage dumpster.

"Ya know," he said. "You remind me kinda of the dudes from that creepy Foot mutating lab we found underground. Quary, Stonebiter, Razorfist, they looked kinda like you."

"Who?" Chris looked slightly confused.

"They were some people who had been taken from the streets to be used as guinea pigs for a mutagen that the Foot developed. Do you know who the Foot are?" Don asked.

"It sounds familiar… perhaps Dr. Andrews has metioned it. I'm not sure."

"Well, they are an elite clan of ninja warriors that originated in Japan. They specialize in crime of any kind, robberies and such," Leo explained.

"And they had a leader, the Shredder. He was our arch foe!" Mikey put in. "He actually turned out to be an Utrom, but we showed him!"

"Yes," Leo agreed. "But the Foot are still at large, and even without a leader, they are very dangerous."

"Thanks, Leo," Raph snapped. "We really needed that!"

"Wait a minute," Don cut in. "Chris, did you say that you thought Akasha's mom mentioned the Foot?"

"It does sound familiar," Chris admitted. "I think I may have overheard her mention it on the phone, perhaps late at night, when I was leaving for home… I'm not sure. The mutating process has affected my memory."

Don snapped his fingers.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, thumping the ground with his fist, causing a small puff of dust to rise into the air. "The mutants from the underground lab had almost no memories at all, right?"

"So?" Mikey shrugged.

"And Chris looks similar to them, right?"

"I'm still not following you, 'bro," Mikey shook his head.

"AND Akasha's mom was talking to someone about the Foot, right?"

"Okay, Donny, if this has a point, why don't you go ahead and make it now?" Raph growled impatiently.

"Ugh, you still don't get it? Look; what if Dr. Andrew's work is connected to the Foots' experiments?"

Silence. Then,

"You think my mom would allow her research fall into the hands of criminals?" Akasha asked slowly.

"No, nothing like that," Don began, but Akasha overrode him.

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised," she said bitterly. "That is the sort of thing she'd do."

"Maybe they stole it?" Don suggested tentatively.

"So anyway, if they are connected, what are we going to do about it?" Leo wondered out loud.

They all stared at Akasha.

"Oh, no! I'm am _not_ sneaking you in to snoop around! My mom's got an airtight security system."

"Lucky for us, we got an expert on airtight security systems," Raph pointed at Don.

"It can't be worse than the Shredders'," Don shrugged.

Akasha threw her hands in the air and sighed.

"When do you wanna do it?" she asked them dully. Leo grinned in triumph and leaned forward in a conspiritorial manner.

"Okay, this is what we do…" he began.

A/N: What did you think? You'll notice I've heeded the constructive critticism I recieved from Raven 001 and have began to create a Don/April/Casey love triangle. I agree, and think it would be more fitting, and a more interesting reading experience then just April/Don. (Feedback is appreciated, especially constructive critticism!)

NOTE:April is 23 (a friend got this from a web site), but in my story, I imagine heryounger.(Don't know why, just do.)For those who were wondering, Casey is 24, but he is alsoyounger in myfic.And while I'm on the subject of age,Akasha is 15 1/4.


	7. Chapter 7: The BreakIn

A/N: Hello everybody! Chapter 7 is here! I am really sorry for the delay, I've been busy. Thanks to all of you who reviewed. Now, without any further ado, Chapter 7!

Chapter 7

The Break-In.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Akasha grumbled into the hidden microphone Don had planted in her wristwatch. She crouched outside her mother's laboritory, carefully scanning the carpark with alert hazel eyes. "We're gonna get caught."

"No, we won't," Don replied encouragingly. His voice emitted from the pair of headphones Akasha wore under the hood of her sweatshirt. "Just act normal. I'll talk you through everything."

"Somehow, I don't feel any safer," she complained, sneaking around the building and making for the door. A small keypad, similar to the one at the entrance to the turtle's lair, was next to the heavy steel door. Akasha punched in the password – calamari – and the door opened with a hiss like steam escaping from a teakettle.

Mikey, who, like the other turtles, was watching everything through a hidden camera in Akasha's headphones, exclaimed;

"Calamari? What's that?"

"It's Greek for 'squid'," Akasha informed him.

"Eww, why would anyone want _that _as their password?" Mikey demanded.

"My mom likes squid," Akasha said as the door closed behind her. "She has it in sushi and stuff. Now shut up before anyone hears you."

Before Akasha, a long, white hallway stretched. Is smelled of strange chemicals. Akasha, however, was used to these smells, and simply strode down the hallway, ignoring the glass windows either side of her. They showed gruesum beasts, chained or tethered to the walls, people in white suits and masks with oxygen tanks on their backs prodding them with electric rods. The monsters roared, but their cries were oddly muffled behind the glass.

Every so often a steel door would appear, leading to the monsters' chambers. A few of the people in white suits appeared, and noticed Akasha.

"Akasha?" One of them took off her mask and blinked blue eyes at the girl. She had blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, and only looked to be in her teens.

"Who's the babe?" Mikey's voice echoed in the hallway. Akasha smiled innocently at the surprised lab assistents and muttered, "I'm going kill you, Mike," into her watch while pretending to adjust her hood.

The assistents seemed to forget about the disembodied voice and turned back to Akasha.

"What are you doing here?" The blonde haired woman asked Akasha. "Your mother has sent a group of mutants to search for you, we thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

"I just needed to have a break, Clair," Akasha replied easily. "And yes, I know she sent some mutants after me. I ran into one of them yesterday. As a matter of fact, that's why I'm here. Do you know where my dear mother is?"

Clair sensed Akasha's annoyance and raised an eyebrow.

"In the office in secter five, level two. But don't be too hard on her, she's really busy right now: A company she was in touch with has been badgering her to allow an inspection. She's under a lot of stress."

"I won't be to harsh," Akasha smiled sweetly at the assistents and trotted off down the hallway, flapping a hand in farewell.

"Smooooth," Mikey said. "Do you know everyone in this place? I thought it was just Chris."

"Nope, I know most of 'em," Akasha stopped in front of a white elevator and hit the call button. A dinging sound could be heard and the doors opened. A tall man in a long white coat and carrying a clipboard stepped out, nodded to Akasha, and hurried off along the hallway, muttering to himself:

"Yes, they've been feeding them to much meat again, they'll be all brawn and no brains for days. Why do I work with these imbecils? What have I done to deserve this…?" his ramblings died away as the elevator doors closed.

"Who was that?" Mikey asked instantly.

"Mr. Bixby. His first name is Arthur. Has two kids, Alexis and Robert, lives in the same apartment building as April, has been married for twenty-five years, he turned forty-eight on Tuesday," Akasha shot back, a smug smile on her face. "Favorite colour is yellow, likes drawing cartoons in his free time, and watching comedy in TV."

"You _are _good." Mikey whistled.

"Yes, I am aren't I?" Akasha stepped out of the elevator and onto a floor full of offices.

"This is the place." Akasha jogged down the deserted corridor and turned the corner, dodging trolleys loaded with papers and old files.

"Why is nobody here?" Leo asked as she tried to open one of the office doors.

"The office employees leave work at nine," Akasha replied as she rattled the doorhandle impatiently. "Urgh, _why _won't this thing open?" She kicked the door in frustration, and stubbed her toe.

"Ow." Akasha fumed for a few minutes, then began to rummage around in the pockets of her sweatshirt.

"What are you looking for?" Mikey asked.

"_This_," Akasha waved an ordinary hairpin in front of the hidden camera.

"What, bad hair day?"

"No, you idiot," Akasha sighed in exasperation and inserted the hairpin into the lock. She began to wiggle it around, and before long, the lock clicked and the door opened.

"Oooh," Mikey said, finally understanding.

The office was full of print-offs of emails and hastily scribbled phone numbers. Many of them were secured to the walls with blue tack, or propped up against the filing cabinets and computer. A wastepaper basket in one corner over-flowed with crumpled sheets of printer paper, a half-eaten chocolate bar was squashed to one side, melting chocolate oozing slowly onto the drab grey carpet, which was almost invisible due to a blanket of clutter and office supplies that obscured it.

"Is _this _your mom's office?" Mikey said in disbelief.

"No, she's a neat freak," Akasha took a huge step over a mountain of printed reports and looked around for another available spot to put her other foot. "This is Mr. Gribdul's office. I need to get the password for my mom's office from here. She changes hers every two days."

Reaching the computer desk, Akasha began to sift through a mound of sticky-notes.

"Luckily for us, Mr. Gribdul is extremely forgetful, and he always writes the new password down, so we should be able to find it no problem… Aha!" she unearthed a note, badly crumpled and spotted with coffee, but legible nontheless.

"And now we can get to my mom's office." Akasha exited the cluttered office and locked the door behind her before setting off along a different hallway. She halted before a huge steel door. A plaque read:

**Dr. Andrews**

**Head of Department**

"Okay, here we go," Akasha consulted the sticky-note and punched in a code. The door swung open.

Unlike Mr. Gribdul's office, this one was spotlessly clean, and very organized, apart from being a good size larger. It was about three times larger than Mr. Gribdul's. At one end, a collection of flat-screen computers stood, their blank screens reflecting the light that shone down from the expensive modern-looking light fixture. A small stainless-steel fridge stood in one corner, a music player on its top. A couple of modern paintings hung on the back wall, while the one facing them hosted an enormous window, which gave the Turtles and Akasha the charming view of a tester lab.

A number of mutants were suspended in iron cages above vats of toxic liquids. Their roars of terror and rage reached them, even through the thick layer of plexiglass. Akasha hit a button on the wall and heavy brocade drapes descended, hiding the spectacle from view. The muffled screams echoed eerily, causing Akasha to shiver.

"Nicer than Mr. Gribdude's, eh?" Mikey said, obviously trying to make a joke. It was his yells of "Ow! Whaaaat?" that made Akasha smile: Raph didn't put up with much from his brother.

Akasha strode over to the computers. She switched one of them on, and idly traced the patterns of the mousepad while the system loaded, flashing company logos on the screen.

"What exactly are we going to do?" Mikey asked.

"I'm going to hack into the computers mainframe, and disable the security system so you can get in. You'll travel through the ventalation shafts, and from that point… well that's up to you. I'll keep in touch from here, and see if I can't unearth some info on the mutations that's been going on recently." Akasha double-clicked on an icon on the computers desktop.

"Where does Chris come in?" Mike questioned. "He's beginning to smell."

A low growl emitted from the speaker; Chris was also watching.

"He's our backup plan," Akasha explained patiently. "If you get caught, or something like that, he'll burst in and say he's got 'important information' for my mother. While they're destracted, you can break free, I hope."

"We ain't gonna get caught," Raphael growled, sounding remarkably like Chris. "We're ninjas, remember?"

"Oh, of course, you're the ninjas who nearly got caught in the pizzaria last night 'cause _you _forgot to hide your sais in your trench coat," Akasha quipped.

Raph was apparantly to shocked at her comeback to answer. Mikey, however, began to clap and said, "Can I have your autograph?" to which he got a sound smack on the head from an extremely angry Raphael.

"Wow, you shut Raph up," Don sounded impressed. "Can _I _have your autograph?"

"Oh, be quiet." Akasha grinned. Then she sobered. "I'm into the system!" she announced. Then she frowned. "But I'm being blocked by something."

"Lemme have a look." Don quickly scanned the screen from the camera in the headphones.

"Well?" Akasha wanted to know. "Can you help?"

"Of course I can help!" Don sounded slightly indignant. "All you have to do, is click on that icon there, and make some minor adjustments to that part there. Add a bracket. That might work." Akasha did as she was told and the computer whirred.

"It's working!" Mikey cried gleefully from the other end.

The computer crashed. Its screen went blank.

"Oh, that," Akasha bent under the computer desk and fiddled with some wires. The modem flickered to life exactly where they had left it.

"It always does that," Akasha dusted off her hands and sat back down in the computer chair. "I had to learn to fix it when I was playing _Freddy Fish._"

"You played _Freddy Fish_?" Mikey sniggered.

"I was eight!" Akasha snapped. "When Chris wasn't around to play with me, I could go on computer games. Now be quiet, I need to consentrate…"

Mikey fell silent.

"Okaaaay," Akasha opened a file and chose an icon. The mouse changed from an arrow to an hourglass; the computer was loading.

"Are we almost done?" Mikey whined. "I'm booorrrd."

"All I have to do is close the security in sector fifteen. That's the ventalation shafts." Akasha explained with forced patience. Her fingers danced over the keyboard. A panel next to the computer – it showed which sectors' security systems were activated – made a noise. One of the red lights on it winked out.

"Right. Now you can come on in." Akasha lent back in her chair feeling quite pleased with herself.

"Finally some action!" Mike whooped. "See ya soon, Ash!"

She switched the camera off – they would be with her soon – and fiddled with a strand of her aubern hair. For some reason she felt nervous, and on edge.

"Snap out of it!" She told herself. Her uneasiness grew. Perhaps she imagined the muffled footsteps outside, or the scrape of the doorhandle being turned. Maybe she just _thought _she saw a shadow fall over her, as if someone was standing behind her, or that the crawling, paralyzing itch she was feeling was simply caused by her growing sense of unexplained terror, that of a cornered animal. With an increasing sense of dread, she slowly turned around.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" a smooth white tuxedo, a long black ponytail almost brushing the floor, a white hat perched upon his head. He was so close Akasha could smell the sweet aroma wafting from the red rose thrust through the buttenhole of his jacket, and see the designs on the brass-and-wood walking stick he was carrying.

He smiled cruelly, perfect white teeth flashing.

"A little mouse, we were informed, was meddling in matters that she ought not meddle in. Silly little mouse… perhaps we should teach her a little lesson, eh, Mr. Touch?" A hulking figure behind the man stepped foreward; muscles rippled under a dark plum-coloured shirt.

"Perhaps we should, Mr. Go," Mr. Touch flexed his bicep. Muscle bulged.

"Touch and Go?" Akasha, even in her frightened state, still found this slightly amusing. "Cute."

"Your terepin friend was of a similar mind," Mr. Go smirked at her. "But enough talk. Our employer wishes to see you in person."

" 'Terepin friend'?" Akasha asked, startled. "And weren't you going to teach me a lesson?"

Mr. Go's eyes narrowed.

"It appears that you, like your terepin friend, are also prone to backchat," he hissed, ignoring her first question. "Now, are you going to come quietly? Our employer is not a particularly patient person."

"Interesting." Akasha inspected her fingernails absent-mindedly. "Who _is _your employer, anyway?"

"Oh, you will soon find out."

Mr. Touch, from a signal from Mr. Go, lunged at Akasha. Expecting this, she ducked under the computer table and dived behind the computer towers, silently thanking her martial arts teacher for her quick reflexes. Because of her rebel-ish nature, she would quite often end up with a broken nose or black eye from fights in school. Finally fed up, she had talked her mother into paying for a martial arts expert to teach her, so that she could at least fend off the blows. Now she was glad she had.

"So we have a feisty one." Mr. Go laughed. "It will do her no good."

Akasha ground her teeth in frustration. Mr. Touch was far too big for her to actually fight. She figured she could take on Mr. Go, but as far as she could see, he simply stood back and ordered Mr. Touch around.

Mr. Touch's fist smashed into the computer desk, close to where Akasha was. The desk splintered, the computer modems toppling around it. Akasha gulped and scooted further along the wall, away from Mr. Touch.

_This is no good! _She thought, furious at herself. _Think, you idiot, _THINK! She gazed around, trying to come up with a plan of action. Her eye fell on the coat rack in the corner. Perfect!

She squirmed out from under the computer desk and sprinted across the room towards it. Akasha heard Mr. Touch grunt with anger and follow her. She grabbed the coat rack and whirled to face him. He halted, uncertain. She took advantage of his hesetation and whacked him in the stomach with the clawed end of the coat rack; he stumbled. With a deft stroke she dragged the end of it across the floor, sweeping his legs out from under him and dumping him on the tiled floor.

Mr. Go appeared beside Mr. Touch, his face twisted in fury. Mr. Touch got to his feet and turned to Mr. Go. They raised their fists; they smashed together, and a bluish light enveloped them. Mr. Touch, who was apparently feeling much better after his power up, began to smile.

Akasha backed up a step.

"You see, little mouse, you cannot fight us. Now, we have been morepatient thanyou deserve. I ask you again: Will you come quietly?"

Akasha's eyes flicked left and right. She had four options: One, she could fight them. She didn't really fancy that. Two, she could dive to her right, through the giant window, into the tester lab. Three, she could go quietly, but that was most definitely _not _her style! So she chose option four: through the door, to her left. She feinted to the right and dodged to the left, running flat out towards the door. Her hand closed over the handle.

Mr. Go's hand closed over her sweatshirt hood, and a clump of her hair. He yanked, hard, almost unbalancing her. She held her ground and pulled on the door handle, trying to ignore the burning pain in her scalp where her hair was being ripped out by the roots, and in her neck, where the sweatshirt's hood was biting into her throat.

Yes! The door was open. She kicked out behind her; her heel connected withsomeones shin. A howl of pain. Mr. Go released her hair and sweatshirt, and she ran. She ran as she had never ran before, her feet barely touching the floor, she flew down the hallways, leaping over trolleys and wastepaper baskets.

Akasha ran, the air whipping her hair back from her face, she made for a window leading to the carpark. Knowing full well what she was going to do, she speeded up, covering her head with her arms, and jumped. Glass shards exploded outward, showering the tarmack with tiny, needle-sharp splinters.

She landed on the carpark, breathing heavily, clutching a stitch in her side. Luckily, it had only been two floors up, and the fall hadn't killed her. With a gasp she trotted toward a parked car and crawled underneath it. She dearly wanted to give Touch and Go a piece of her mind, but she frankly didn't have the energy to do so, and she needed to catch her breath. Akasha desperately tried to slow her heartbeat, which was thundering in her ears.

She spied Mr. Touch poking his head through the shattered window, obviously trying to locate her. She tugged her sweatshirt hood further over her head and hunkered down, hoping against hope that he and his companion would just give up and go away.

She tried to contact the turtles on her wristwatch walkie-talkie, but it had gotten smashed in her jump from the window.

_Oh, _where _are the turtles when you need them? _She thought desperately.

A/N: Oh, the suspense! The drama! I'm evil, aren't I? To be perfectly honest, I wanted to stop at a cliffhanger, to make it more interesting. And it was getting to long anyway. Review and tell me what you think! Maybe it'll spur me to get the next chapter finished quicker.


	8. Chapter 8: Touch and Go issues

A/N: Okay. To Aaron Smiley's question: Yeah, I think I'm gonna continue the love triangle. evil grin Although I'm not sure how it's going to work out in the end... I also added another minorromance to my story.Anyway,read the chapter so you canleave me a nice review! I _loooove _reviews! (No flames please.)

Chapter 8

Touch and Go issues.

Donatello squinted his eyes, trying vainly to see in front of him. He was in the ventalation shafts of Dr. Andrew's mutation laboritory. His brothers were behind him. He heard a bang and a quiet curse from Raphael, who had presumably hit his head on the ceiling.

"Yo, Donnie, you think you could get some light in here?" he growled impatiently. "I can't see a thing –"

A sickening crack was heard. Raph swore loudly.

"Mike, would you watch where you put that big head of yours?" Raph snapped.

"Not _my _fault!" Michelangelo moaned, clutching his head. "_You _smashed into _me._"

Don's three-fingered hand found a metal grille. He pryed it loose and pulled it off, peering cautiously into the room beneath them.

"Shhh," he motioned to his brothers. They blinked in the sudden light and crawled over to him, gazing into the room. It was a security room. Guards in khaki green uniforms with a bright yellow symbol stamped on their chests moved around, feverishly trying to reactivate the security in sector fifteen, which Akasha had deactivated.

"On my signal," Leonardo whispered. "Three, two, one, go!" they sprang down into the room. The startled guards looked around, taking in their unusual appearances. They were quick to draw their weapons, however, guns and batons among them.

Even with weapons, they were at a disadvantage. Their ninja foes quickly rendered them all unconsious, and piled them non-to gently in a corner. Don sat down at one of the computers and set to work hacking into the mainframe. He idly messed with his headphones, accidently flicking a switch. Totally absorbed in the information on the computer screen, however, he did not notice.

"Hm," Don said thoughtfully. "Guys, look at this."

Leo, Raph and Mikey gathered around the computer. Don tapped a panel on the left-hand side of the screen with a thick green finger.

"Look, the list of Dr. Andrew's clients. And guess who just happens to be on there." The name 'Oroku Saki' was second on the list.

"Shredder!" Raph ground his teeth in fury, one hand instinctively grasping the handle of his sai. "We shoulda known he'd be in on it!"

"I gotta tell Akasha," Don pressed a butten on his wristwatch.

"Akasha?" he asked.

No answer.

"Akasha, are you there?"

Nothing.

"Hey, dudette, ya there?" Mikey called into the speaker. She did not reply.

"That's weird," Don muttered.

"Maybe she turned it off," Leo shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," Don took off his headset and set it on the computer desk before turning back to the screen.

Akasha lay belly-down on the cold asphelt of the carpark. Her head ached ferociously from her two-story jump from the laboritory, and from Mr. Go almost tearing a chunk of her hair out. A shallow cut in her palm bled sluggishly; she had caught it on the jagged edge of the window as she had lept through it. The steady _drip, drip _of the motor oil slowly soaking the sleeve of her sweatshirt reminded her of her current situation. Luckily Mr. Touch and Mr. Go had seemingly given up and left, but Akasha was reluctant to venture from her hiding place in case they were lying in wait around a corner or behind a different car.

Suddenly she heard a faint crackling on her headphones. Then a familiar voice souded:

"Guys, look at this."

_It's Don! _Akasha thought, elated.

A series of bangs and scrapes from the headphones, then:

"Look, the list of Dr. Andrew's clients. And guess who just happens to be on there."

The much deeper voice of Raphael cut in:

"Shredder! We shoulda know he'd be in on it!"

"I gotta tell Akasha."

A moment of silence followed.

"Akasha?" Don asked.

Akasha pressed the 'speak' butten on her watch.

"I'm here!" she hissed into it. "Can you hear me? Don?" Her wristwatch flickered briefly, as if trying to turn on. It failed.

"Akasha, are you there?"

She tried again.

"I'm right here!"

"Hey, dudette, ya there?" Mikey's voice.

"That's weird," Don muttered.

"Maybe she turned it off," Leo suggested.

"Yeah, I guess." A rustling was heard.

"No, don't go!" Akasha almost cried. But she could still hear voices.

"We should go and find her," Raph sounded agitated for some reason. "Maybe she's in trouble."

"Why Raph, am I mistaken, or are you worrying about Akasha?" Mikey asked mockingly. He began to sing in a ridiculously high, childish voice. "Raph and Akasha, sittin' in a tree. K – I – S – S – I – N – G!"

Akasha blinked.

_I'm going to kill Mike, _she vowed, her cheeks burning. Raph was apparently thinking along the same lines. Akasha heard him bellow "MIKEY!" followed by a series of shrill squeals. She smiled in satisfaction.

"Could you two keep it down?" Don sounded irritated. "I can't hear myself think over here."

"Quiet," Leo ordered his two younger brothers. "Don's working."

"I have an idea." Don said abruptly. "I didn't plant a Turtle Tracker on Akasha, but I'm sure I could trace the signal of her headphones, from when she used it before. I'll give it a try."

Akasha hit herself on the forehead. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Not wanting to be found under a car with oil dripping on her and blood all over her hands, she rolled carefully out from under the car and stood up. Her head throbbed and she sank down on one knee, gasping. A stray splinter of glass lying on the ground drove itself through her jeans and into her knee. She cried out. Gritting her teeth, she pinched the glass shard with her forefinger and thumb and slowly drew it out. Her head spun.

_Must… get… to… the… building… _she faught the bile rising in her throat and heaved herself to her feet again. She broke into a heavy trot.

Akasha made it to a side door, made of heavy iron and with a keypad, like the front door. Luckily, however, calimari was the right password, and she got in without trouble. She decided to find a washroom to clean up, and wait for the turtles to find her.

On a nearby rooftop Mr. Go surveyed the horizen critically, one white gloved hand on his brow, shielding his eyes from the glare of the street lamps below him. The figure of a girl appeared from beneath a parked car and started toward the laboritory.

"Ah, so the little mouse has decided to come out of her hidy-hole!" Mr. Go commented to Mr. Touch. "Perhaps we should follow her, eh, Mr. Touch? We will make sure she does not come to harm. Our employer would not like that." Without a word, Mr. Touch nodded, and vaulted over the side of the building. His white-clad companian followed silently.

Raphael paced up and down, his head lowered, his mind racing. Ever since he had found out that they could not contact Akasha, a little voice in his head had been screaming at him to go and find her, to make sure she was all right. What if she had been kidnapped? Or a mutant had broken out and killed her? Horrible images appeared in his head. In the end he sat with his shell against the back wall and meditated to calm himself down.

Donatello was delving in his bag, trying to locate the tracking device he needed to find Akasha. By the time he had found it, Raph had given up his meditation and was pacing again.

"Since I'm not doing anything here, I'm gonna look for Ash," he stated abruptly, turning towards the door.

"I'll go with you!" Mike jumped down from the computer desk.

"_No,_" Raph shook his head.

"Hang on Raph," Don motioned for his brother to come over to him. "Right," Don pulled a gizmo out of his bag. "This is a tracking device. You can track Akasha from the signal coming from her headset." He handed the contraption to Raph.

"Thanks." Raph took it and left. He wandered down several corridors before coming out to a crossroad where four halls met up. He looked down at the tracking device. It said that Akasha down the right hall, and to take another right about five hundred meters down. He set off, keeping up a brisk pace. The laboritory made him feel nervous. He would be glad once he was out of it.

He stopped outside a door. According to the tracking device, Akasha was in there… he looked at the sign on the door. It was a ladies washroom.

"Oh, great," he muttered. Steeling himself, he pushed the door open.

Akasha heard the door open and pretended not to notice. Someone came up behind her, and when he or she was two feet away Akasha ducked, dropping and rolling away to spring up again and face her attacker. Then she saw who it was.

"Oh, Raph!" She sounded relieved. "I thought is was…" She took a deep breath. "Never mind. What are you doing here?"

She thought of what she had heard on the headphones and blushed.

"We tried to reach you on the walkie-talkie and you didn't pick up, so we figured you'd been hurt or something. Donnie said that we could track the signal from your headphones," he explained. "What happened, anyway?"

"Oh, these two deranged dudes showed up, Touch and Go, or something." Akasha told him all about her encounter with them, and explained that her wristwatch walkie-talkie had been broken. She chose to leave out the part about her listening in on their conversation.

"Touch and Go?" Raph asked. "Mikey and Splinter ran into them a while ago, and then Mikey and Leo a little while after that. Apparently they were a couple of dudes Hun hired to get rid of us."

"But why were they after me?" Akasha wanted to scream. "They said that their 'employer' – Hun, obviously – didn't want me 'meddling in buisiness that I ought not meddle in'."

"They didn't follow you here, did they?" Raph whipped out is sais, twirling them threateningly.

"I don't think so," Akasha was past caring. She felt like tearing her hair out in frustration. "Let's just go back to the others."

"Oh, but we haven't been introduced!" Mr. Go walked nonchalently out of a bathroom stall, twirling his walking stick. "Who is this? One of Michelangelo's friends?"

Raph settled into a fighter's crouch, sais drawn and crossed in front of him. He maneuvered himself so that Akasha was behind him.

"How did you get in here?" Akasha was livid. "My mother's got a top-notch security system!"

"Our employer simply gave us the password!" Mr. Touch came out from another stall, a wide grin on his rough features. "You can't hide forever!"

"I'm not going to hide!" Akasha snarled. She sank into a fighter's crouch like Raph.

"You know martial arts, huh?" he asked, noticing her posture.

"Long story."

"I suppose we will simply have to take you by force!" Mr. Go said with an attempt to be sorrowful. "After you, Mr. Touch."

"Too kind, Mr. Go!"

Mr. Touch stepped forward. Raph moved to stop him, sais crossed in a defensive position over his plastron.

"Bring it on!" He swung his sai, but Mr. Touch caught the movement in a gigantic fist, and ripped the iron fork from its owners grip. He threw it carelessly into one of the sinks.

"You wanna fight tough, huh?"

Akasha, meanwhile, was dueling Mr. Go. He was fast, and she only just managed to block his blows.

"Don't call you Mr. Go for nothing, eh?" she panted. She flipped backward and landed in a crouch. She rolled to one side as Mr. Go's walking stick landed where her head had been.

"Come out, little mouse," he called, an evil grin on his face.

"Stop calling me that!" Akasha swept her leg under his, trying to dump him on the ground, but he simply jumped right over her and lashed out with his walking stick, hitting her in the face. She fell backward, clutching her nose, blood pouring from between her fingers.

Raph roared and kicked Mr. Touch in the stomach, sending him sprawling backward, before running to Akasha's aid.

Mr. Go spun, hitting Raph in the chest, sending him careening backward. He hit the row of sinks shell first, the breath knocked out of him. Mr. Go advanced, walking stick raised.

He felt something tickle the back of his arm. His sai! With a quick flick, he snatched it from the sink and threw it at his white-clad opponant. Mr. Go ducked; the sai hit a bathroom stall and clattered to the tiled floor.

"You see, little turtle-man, you cannot fight us," Mr. Go said silkily. "Say bye-bye, freak!" He swung his walking stick –

Akasha brought the butt of Raph's sai down on Mr. Go's head. He collapsed, out cold. Akasha wiped blood from her nose with the sleeve of her sweater, a look of savage satisfation on her face.

"Here," she gave Raph his sai back. He took it.

"Thanks." Raph looked around. Mr. Touch was picking himself up off the floor, looking a little dazed. He stumbled over to his fallen companion and turned him over. Seeing that he was still alive, the purple-wearing man growled and came at Raph, fists raised.

Raph ducked his first punch and blocked his second. He parried his third and hit him over the head, knocking him out. Mr. Touch fell to the ground, on top of Mr. Go.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Akasha commented. Then she laughed.

"They're not so tough without their little power-up routine, eh?"

Raph shook his head, sheathing his sai.

"Let's go find the others," Akasha yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm so tired…" she sat down on the floor, and yawned again. Raph looked a little taken-aback.

"C'mon, we gotta go," he yawned. "Then again…" He slid down to sit next to Akasha, who was already fast asleep. They didn't notice the yellow smoke coming from a tiny vial Mr. Touch was now hurriedly stowing in his jacket pocket, or that neither he nor his white-clad friend was really unconsious.

Mr. Go got up and stretched luxuriously, like a sleek white cat.

"Ah, good thinking, Mr. Touch," he praised, tweaking the hem of his tuxedo jacket into a more suitable position. "They will be asleep for hours! We can take them back to our employer." He studied the slightly squashed rose in his buttenhole and tutted. He carefully removed the offensively crumpled flower and dropped it into a garbage bin before turning back to his large companion.

"Our employer only wanted the girl," Mr. Touch pointed out. "What about the turtle-being?"

"Surely our employer will enjoy destroying such a troublesome little green menace?" Mr. Go smiled cruelly. "We would not want to deny him such a treat."

Mr. Touch nodded and stooped to pick up Raph and Akasha. Then he turned and left the room. Mr. Go followed, the tapping of his walking stick fading away into the silence.

Michelangelo fiddled with his bandana tails. He was sitting on the computer desk next to Don, who was busily typing, his eyes glued to the computer screen.

He glanced at Mikey, an irate expression upon his face.

"Would you quit swinging your legs?" he said, a bit of a snappish edge to his voice. "You're moving the desk around."

Mike rolled his eyes and continued to swing his legs, although he slowed them ever so slightly. Leo narrowed his eyes at Mikey, who then ceased his leg-swinging immediantly.

"I wonder where Raph is?" Don muttered to himself. "He's been gone for ages."

"Maybe he got lost." Mikey sniggered.

"Nah, he'd've called us on his Shell Cell," Don pulled out his own Shell Cell and dialled Raph's number. "I'm gonna call him."

The dial tone issued from the cell phone. Nobody picked up.

"That's weird." Don shrugged.

"I wonder why he didn't pick up?" Leo said. "He _always _picks up."

"I can go and get him!" Mikey lept down from the desk, rubbing his hands together with eager anticipation.

"I'll go with you." Leo decided. He turned to Don. "You'll be okay here…?"

It was Don's turn to roll his eyes.

"_Duh_, Leo, I got it covered," he assured his older brother. "You go and find Raphie-boy. I'll catch up."

Leo nodded and followed the orange-banded turtle out of the room. He paused at the doorway.

"Phone if you need anything," he said. "I'll leave my Shell Cell on." He closed the door behind him.

Don turned back to the computer screen.

A/N:See? No cliffie this time. How merciful of me. Don't forget to leave a review!


	9. Chapter 9: Captured!

A/N: Chapter 9. Wow. At first I didn't plan on writing such a long fic. Anyways, read on!

Chapter 9

Captured!

Akasha groaned. She didn't even try to move, she ached so much. She felt cold metal beneath her, chilling her to the bone. She shivered.

_Okay, _she thought to herself. _Don't panic. Now.What was the last thing that happened? _They had defeated Touch and Go. Raph had knocked Mr. Touch out. Then all she could remember was being tired. Incredibly tired, and falling asleep.

_Did someone drug me? _She wondered. _No, me and Raph were the only other ones in the room, apart from those two lack-wits, and they were unconsious…_

She carefully extracted her arm out from under her. It was numb. Ever so carefully, Akasha began to wiggle her fingers, trying to regain the feeling in her hand.

She opened her eyes. It was dark, but she could just make out the shape of a shell in the shadows to her left: Raphael was in here, too.

"Raph," she recoiled; her voice was barely a croak, unrecognizable. She raised her voice.

"Raph!" he stirred.

Gritting her teeth, Akasha pulled herself painfully into the sitting position. She reached out her left hand and shook Raph's shoulder.

"Wha?" he mumbled.

"Raph, wake up!"

He shot up as if electrocuted.

"Akasha?"

"Duh. Who else d'you think it'd be?"

"Where are we?"

"I don't know. I just woke up, too." Akasha lurched to her feet, and looked around. Light came from the crack under a door. Akasha felt for the handle; it was locked.

Raph had stood up too. He ran his hands along his belt, searching for his sai.

"Shell!" he cursed. "They took my blades! They are so gonna pay for that…!"

"Yeah, if we knew who 'they' was," Akasha muttered.

"It wasn't Touch an' Go, was it?"

"How could it have been? We knocked 'em out."

"Yeah, but who else could it have been?"

"I don't know!"

There was a moment of tense silence, where Akasha fumed and Raph shifted his weight from foot to foot restlessly. A sudden bang from outside shattered the silence.

"Idiot! That was Master Shredder's favorite vase!" A teen male voice hissed. "Clean up this mess before – "

"What has happened?" A deeper voice interrupted.

"That's Hun!" Raphael pressed his ear to the door, all anger forgotten. "I'd recognize his voice anywhere!"

"You fool! Clean up this mess. Master Shredder has sent me to escort our guest to his chamber."

Raph lept backward as the door opened, shedding light on him and Akasha, who was looking Hun over. Her lip curled as she noticed the Purple Dragon tattoo on his upper arm, a violet serpent twisting around his bicep, it's head reared back, it's teeth bared in a snarl of defiance.

"What are you sneering at, freak?" Hun growled.

"She ain't a freak!" Raph came to Akasha's defence.

"You are not concerned in this matter, shellback," Hun said. "I am here for little Miss Andrews." He grabbed her arm and towed her to the hallway.

"Let go of me!"

Hun laughed as he closed the door.

Raph heard her muffled yells fade through the thick iron.

Hun hauled Akasha along the corridor, paying no heed to her kicking and thrashing. He forced her through a large set of double doors. She smelled incence: she identifyed sandalwood and musk. A low mahogany desk stood against the wall to her right. At it sat a man dressed in a loose-fitting suit. His eyes narrowed as she approached. Hun placed a hand the size of a garbage bin lid on her back and shoved her onto the ground, forcing her to kneel.

"Kneel before the Master," he growled in her ear.

"Now now, Hun," the man called 'Master' said. "This is our special guest."

"Special guest?" Akasha spat, sitting back on her heels. "I don't think kidnapping me and Raph and throwing us in a cell very hospitable."

"Ah, the turtle," the man walked around the desk to stand in front of her. "The turtles are not what they may seem. They fight me and my followers."

"Wait…" Akasha frowned. "Who are you?"

"My name is Oroku Saki," the man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. They remained cold.

"Oroku Saki…" her eyes widened. "Shredder!"

"Ah, I see that they have poisened your mind with vile lies about me," Oroku Saki said, with an attempt to look regretful.

"Lies? Yeah, right!" Akasha snarled.

"Perhaps you need to be pursuaded to… see reason," Saki suggested icily. He turned and beckoned to a dark, shadowy space behind a pillar. Akasha's mother stepped out.

Akasha gasped.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Your mother has been on my side for quite a while," Saki smirked. "She was kind enough to lend me the information we lacked to perfect our own breed of mutant, useful for surveillence underground. In return, we provided security from certain… outside forces that may try to interfere. But, let us start from the beginning, shall we?

"My allies and I have warred against the turtles for a long time. We decided to try to locate their underground home, and thus be rid of them quickly. But our ninjas were no match for the catacombs of sewer tunnels that lie beneath us, so I had no choice but to withdraw them.

"Then I came across Dr. Andrews here. She was looking for a supplier to sell her a certain kind of illegal substance only found on the Black Market. It was needed for the mutagen she was working on. I helped her acquire the necessary item, she in turn told me of her mutagen, and how she had perfected it. I was interested in it, and I pursuaded her to let me copy it, for my own devices. She was reluctant at first, but eventually gave me a small sample of the stuff.

"My ninjas were quick to use the sample. They used kidnapped civilians as test subjects, and soon had a large number of successfully operating mutants on regular patrol. The creatures seemingly had no memories left, and were fairly docile and easy to control."

Akasha was staring at her mother. She looked tired and pale, with dark circles under her eyes. There was something about her stance that signalled defeat, and hopelessness. She was staring at her shoes, not at her daughter, and one hand was fiddling nervously with the tie on her lab coat, which was hanging off her thin frame.

_She looks tireder than the last time I saw her, _Akasha realized. _More… hagard, somehow. And she's lost weight. _Although she could not believe her mother would hand her research over to Saki, Akasha felt a stab of guilt and pity. She tore her eyes away and looked at Shredder.

"Then something went wrong." Saki continued. "The mutants escaped from the laboritory, and ran into the catacombs. We never were able to catch them, and I shut down the operation." A sneer twisted his face.

"Months later, I finally understood the reason. We had not got all of Dr. Andrew's research. She had only given us the basic mutagen, not the kind that rendors them harmless and docile. I was furious, and sent an elite group of ninja to sort out the problem. They, however, were a failure. The security system was, as you say, 'airtight', and they were unable to get in. I told Hun" – Saki motioned to the hulking figure behind Akasha – "to deal with the issue; he has been most succesful with missions of this sort. He used a pair of assassins, Mr. Touch and Mr. Go, both with a kind of power-up capability. They got inside, but could not find the information. They did, however, find out that the information was hidden in a different location, and that it would be brought to the laboritory on a certain night for Dr. Andrews to add to her current mutagen.

"One minor glitch in my plan, it seems, is that when they went to collect the information, a certain little troublemaker and her reptilian friends were already there, nosing around as usual. Mr. Touch and Mr. Go went in to be rid of the problem and brought them – you and one of the turtles –to me, and are, as we speak, seeking out the mutagen and bringing it back here."

"But why is my mom here then?" Akasha asked, trying to understand what Saki had just told her.

"To keep her from hiding the information," Oroku Saki pointed out smoothly.

Akasha's mother continued her study of the ground, expressionless.

"What are you going to do with Raph?" Akasha finally managed to ask.

A cruel smile played around Saki's lips.

"His presence will bring his kin to his side, and I will trap and be rid of them once and for all," he said with relish. "As for you, I will think of a suitable fate for you and your mother later. Hun" – he beckened the man – "Take them away."

Akasha's mother's head snapped up.

"The deal was that you let us go!" she protested. "You gave your word!"

"And you were gullible enough to believe me," Saki replyed scornfully. Hun reached for Akasha.

A crash was heard. Hun looked up. Akasha took advantage of this and rose, spinning and kicking the man in the chest. He flew backward across the room.

"What?" Saki's eyes flew wide with rage.

"Cowabunga!" cried a figure from the doorway.

"Mikey?" Akasha never thought she would be so glad to see the orange-banded turtle.

"Hi Ash! We thought you could use a hand," Mikey said cheerfully. "We busted Raph out, he and Leo are just coming!"

"Turtle!" Oroku Saki's hands were clentched in fury, he glared at the terepin ninja with loathing.

"Shredder!" Mikey whipped out his nunchucku's, creating mini ornage cyclones in midair.

Hun had recovered. He grabbed Akasha from behind, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Grrof me!" she snarled, stamping on his feet. He howled and released her. Mikey lept into action, forcing Hun to back away from his twirling nunchucku's.

"Akasha!" Raph called from the door. She ran towards him. He and Leo had their weapons out and were looking warily at Shredder, who was readying himself to come to Hun's aid.

"Let's go," Leo quickly decided. "C'mon, Mikey!"

"Aww, c'mon, Leo," Raph groaned. "At least let me pound Shred-head!"

"No, Raph," Leo said sternly. "Flight, not fight. MICHELANGELO!" he called.

Mikey ran over, sheathing his nunchucku's.

As they turned to go, Akasha caught sight of her mother. She was staring at her daughter in surprise. Saki took a step toward Akasha, who turned and ran after the turtles. Her mother called something, but Akasha couldn't here it over Shredder's growl of fury. She sprinted after Raph's retreating shell.

The turtles contacted Don on their Shell Cells and explained what had happened. They met on April's apartment building's fire escape.

"Hey Donnie," Ash greeted the purple-clad turtle as she tried to work her fingers under the window.

"Here, lemme," Raph pryed it open with the tip of one of his newly recovered sais. He slid the window up and entered the apartment. The others followed.

"So, is your mother – ?" Don began to ask, then halted. His face grew several shades lighter green.

Casey and April were sitting on the sofa, arms around one anothers necks, kissing. April's crutches lay on the floor, forgotten. Upon hearing Don's voice, they broke apart and whipped around, both extremely red in the face.

A long awkward silence followed. Then;

"Er, hey, guys," April said nervously. She struggled to stand up. Akasha picked up the abandoned crutches and handed them to her aunt, fighting to keep her face straight.

Mikey was looking from April to Casey, his mouth hanging open slightly. Leo was busying himself closing the window so as not to have to look at anybody. Raph was, like Akasha, doing his best not to explode via laughter, and Don looked as if somebody had hit him in the face with something very heavy but he hadn't figured out what had happened yet.

April managed to right herself and asked in a falsely cheery tone; "Does anyone want some tea?"

"Yes, please," Leo answered. He nudged Mikey.

"Oh, yeah, me too," Mikey recovered.

"I'll have some," Raph shrugged. April turned to Don.

"Don?" she asked timidly.

"No, thanks, I'm okay," he mumbled, inspecting his toes. "I just need some air…" he fled up the fire escape.

April's face fell, and she shuffled into the kitchen.

Akasha said she didn't want any tea, and slunk out of the kitchen unnoticed. She descended the fire escape slowly, making plenty of noise so that Don would know she was coming.

She found him sitting cross-legged against a wall, watching the early-morning traffic below them.

"Don, are you okay?" she sat down beside him. He refused to look at her, but studied the sea of headlights intently, with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," his voice was higher than normal, and he was still staring at the lights. "Just… fine! Absolutely fine!" he began to giggle hysterically, muffling the sound with his fist.

"Why did she have to do that?" he suddenly burst out. "Why Casey? He's about as clever as a house brick! What does she see in him?" he said this as if he didn't expect an answer, and Akasha didn't have one. A few moments passed quietly, save the honking of the horns below.

"Do you want to come down?" Akasha finally asked.

"No, I'm going to meditate," he replied absently.

"Okay," Akasha got up. She went down and entered through the window. Casey and Raph were seated on the sofa, sipping tea, and talking. They shut up the moment Akasha appeared. She sighed and went to find April.

April was in her room, flicking through her journal. Her crutches were propped up against the wall nearby. Akasha leaned on the doorframe and cleared her throat. April jumped and looked up.

"Oh, Akasha," she mumbled. "Where's Don? Is he… okay?"

"You really upset him," Akasha said slowly. "But he'll live."

"I can't believe I did that," April muttered distractedly.

"You mean being caught in a liplock with Casey?" Akasha smiled wryly. "What _were _you thinking?"

"I don't know," April shook her head. "It just sort of…"

"Happened." Akasha supplied helpfully, coming into the room and sitting on the bed.

"Yes." April rubbed her temples.

Akasha looked at the open journal in her aunt's lap, and noticed that it was open to the detailed sketch of Donatello.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked, pointing to the picture.

"Well, I know he likes _me,_ but…" April threw up her hands and flopped backward onto the bed. "I don't know. I like him, but…what could happen? He's a _mutant_ _turtle,_ Asha! And I'm a human. Although…" April grinned mischieviously. "You and Raph…"

"Oh, shush," Akasha grumbled good-naturedly.

"What happened to your mother, anyway?" April changed the subject, turning serious. "Raph told me some, but he wasn't there for all of it."

Akasha told her aunt all of what Saki had revealed and what had happened in the laboritory, and finally about how hopeless her mother looked.

"I think we should break her out," Akasha finished, clenching her fists on her knees. "And we have to get that information out of Shredder's hands!"

"I wish I could help," April sighed, glaring at her bandaged foot. "But I can barely move as it is."

"Here, lemme," Akasha reached forward, a strange irredescent light flaring around her hands.

"No," April drew back. "What am I gonna tell the others? My foot healed itself suddenly?"

"I can at least take the hurt away," Akasha argued. "Help it get better a bit quicker."

April winced as her foot throbbed. "Oh, all right then."

Akasha held a hand over the injured foot, letting waves of healing roll into it.

"Thanks Ash, that feels much better," April rotated her foot experimentally, and smiled.

"I'm glad there's something good about it," Akasha muttered, looking at her hands, a scowl on her face.

"Let's go and see what the guys think," April suggested, getting up and retrieving her crutches. She closed her journal and put it back on the bookshelf. "We have to get Lilly out of there."

They found the turtles and Casey seated in the living area, talking. Don didn't look at April, who did likewise. Akasha resolved to fix the problem, once they had saved her mother and the information from Saki. April took a seat on a chair far away from both Casey and Don. Akasha sat on the couch next to Leo.

"We were just saying that we have to get that information from Shredder," Leo explained, breaking the uneasy silence. "And your mother, of course," he added, motioning to Akasha.

"How're we gonna do that?" Raph wanted to know. "Just break in an' demand to he hand 'em over?"

"We'll have to sneak in," Leo said matter-of-factly. "But just to get Dr. Andrew's and the information, no more."

"I wish I could come," April said, shamefaced. "But I can't even walk properly, let alone fight."

"You can stay here with Casey." Don did his best not to sound bitter. "I'm sure we can handle things without you."

"Hey, you ain't ditchin' me!" Casey informed them. "I'm gonna come and give Mr. Spiky-Pants a piece o' my mind!"

"Fine," Leonardo shrugged. "We'll all go. April, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here…"

"I don't mind," she said softly. But she was looking at Don, not Leo. The purple-banded turtle was staring at the floor again, is thoughts obviously elsewhere.

"Let's go, then." Leo got up and exited the house via the fire escape.

"Yeah, finally some action!" Casey whooped, following Leo. Mikey, Raph and Don trailed after them. Akasha turned to April.

"I'll call you if we need you," she told her aunt. "You're foot should be okay now. Keep your Shell Cell on." She turned and hopped out of the window after the turtles.

A/N: Reviews would be nice. :)


	10. Chapter 10: The Rescue

A/N: I'll talk more in the end Author Note.

Chapter 10

The Rescue

Chris lifted his large head and scented the air. He was making his way cautiously down one of the many corridors in the laboritory, searching for the turtles. It had been at least a couple of hours since they had set out, and he was worried. His ears pricked up; a lab assisstent pushing a trolley rounded a corner. Chris jumped upward, claws digging into the plaster of the ceiling and wedging there.

The assisstent shuffled underneath the giant wolf, humming a tune. He disappeared up the corridor, his footsteps echoing eerily. Chris dislodged his claws and fell to the floor with a muffled _thump._ He set off down the hallway once more, determined to find his terepin friends and Akasha.

He passed rows of doorways and closets, evading the small groups of workers that appeared from time to time. He found the security room, a large space occupied by numerous screens showing the views of video cameras all over the building. He opened the door and went cautiously inside, checking for any human inhabitance. Satisfied that he was alone, the mutant locked the door and settled his bulk into a swivel chair, turning his attention to the TV screens, tucking his spiked tail behind him.

His search pulled up nothing, however. He was not surprised; his friends were ninja's, after all. They would have no difficulty in hiding from the painfully obvious security cameras. He leaned back in the chair, brow furrowed thoughtfully. The chair groaned in protest to the sudden shift of immense weight.

"Perhaps they have already left," Chris mused out loud. "And forgot to tell me. But where would they have gone?"

Only then did he remember the small, green Shell Cell his new friends had presented him with before they had departed. He unhooked it from his belt and flipped it open. He clumsily dialled Leonardo's cell phone number, using his claws as opposed to his fingers, which were too big to press the correct button. He finally managed it and waited while it rang.

"Hello?" The voice sounded as if it's breath was laboured. Chris instantly became worried.

"Leonardo? Are you alright?"

"Oh, fine… just… running, out of… breath," came the reply. "Going to… Shredder's – Oroku Saki's – building to get… Akasha's mother," Leo panted. "Where are… you?"

"I am in the security room in Dr. Andrew's laboritory," Chris answered, relieved that his friend was not hurt. "You did not tell me you had left."

"I'm… sorry," Leo apologized. "We got… caught up in helping Akasha. Long story. Listen… a pair of men called… Mr. Touch and Mr. Go are in the building… trying to steal some vital information concerning Dr. Andrew's mutations. They… must be stopped. Can you… prevent them from leaving the building?" Leo described what the duo looked like to the wolf-mutant. Chris agreed to intercept them and stop them from leaving. He exited the room.

Akasha hated her powers with a passion, but she did have to admit they came in handy. She was able to keep up with the turtles easily and not be too out of breath. She was careful to fake bouts of exhaustion now and again, so that they would not be too suspicious.

"Aren't you _tired?_" Michelangelo's panted querrie interrupted her thoughts.

"A bit," Akasha replied, giving a huge artificial gasp for effect. Mikey raised an eyeridge.

"You were really fast when we tailed you before. Y'know, just before we met Chris," Mikey scruntinized her, as if seeing her for the first time. "How do you do it?"

"I'm just as tired as you are," she retorted. "I just hide it better."

Mikey opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the line of roofs they were running along ending abruptly. He skidded to a stop and bent double, wheezing.

"I… _hate… _running," he complained as he regained breath enough for talk.

"You hate everything," Akasha informed him tartly. "Except pizza and comics."

"And TV," Mikey added with a goofy grin.

"There it is," Leo came up beside them, his ice-blue eyes fixed on the towering building before them: The Shredder's headquarters.

"Yeah, let's jus' get in, find Dr. Andrews, an' get the shell out," Raph growled, eyeing the building with loathing. "The place gives me the creeps."

"Aww, is wittle Waphie scwared?" Mikey cooed in a mock-baby voice. Raph smacked him upside the head, drawing a yell of pain from the orange-clad turtle.

"You do ask for it, ya know," Akasha smirked.

"Humph," Mikey scowled, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Enough, let's go," Leo ordered. They jumped to the ground and snuck over to the building. Donatello pryed open a metal plate and fiddled with a clump of multi-coloured wires.

"You doin' your geek thing?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, I'm doing my geek thing," Don replied, shooting the man a contemptuous glance. He snipped off a wire and the huge set of double doors opened. "I think my geek thing is pretty good." He strode into the building.

"What's bitin' him?" Casey asked in confusion.

"Let's just hurry up," Akasha interjected, changing the subject to one less dangerous. They all followed the purple-wearing terepin.

Inside the building, they crept along as quickly as they dared, keeping to the shadows. Once a trio of Foot went past, but they were comfortable in their own territory, and did not notice the turtles or their human friends.

"Let's get in that elevator," Leo pointed to the set of metal doors at the bottom of the hall. As they readied themselves to make a break for the elevator, a group of Foot – about fifteen in all – appeared from around a corner. The turtles dropped into fighting crouches, pulling their weapons loose. Casey yanked out his baseball bat and tapped it threateningly on his palm.

Akasha's eyes flicked left and right; they were sorely out-numbered. If they could hold them off long enough for them to get inside the elevator, there wouldn't be a problem, but she wasn't sure they could do that.

Leo tripped at Foot ninja and disarmed a second, slicing the sensetive bunch of muscles behind his knee. He dropped with a howl. The turtle whacked a third opponent on the head with the handle of his katana and whipped around, searching for a new target.

A ninja ran at Akasha, brandishing a chigiriki. She ducked the chain and grabbed the handle, pulling it from her advesary's hands. She punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. She stepped over his unconsious form to engage another ninja with the chigiriki's chain whirling above her head.

"Retreat!" Leo called as he bashed a Foot ninja on the head. "To the elevator! NOW!"

Casey kicked his foe in the stomach and ran toward Leonardo, panting. Raphael and Michelangelo followed. Donatello pounded the ninja in front of him on the head one more time before following, sheathing his Bo staff. Akasha tossed the enemy's chigiriki on the floor and lept into the elevator just as the doors closed.

"Phew!" Mikey grinned. "Good fight, dudes and dudette!"

"Where'd you learn to use a chigiriki like that?" Leo wanted to know, looking at Akasha.

"I can do martial arts. I always used a chigiriki, it was my favorite weapon." She explained with a shrug.

The elevator shuddered to stop on the top floor; Shredder's chambers were on this level. The turtles, Casey and Akasha snuck out of the elevator and hurried along the passageway, searching for a door that looked like a cell door.

"This ain't any good!" Raph exploded. "All the doors look the same! We're never gonna find Ash's mom at this rate!"

"Calm down, Raph," Leo said. "We'll find her."

Akasha lagged behind the others, deep in thought. When a hand came out from a dark niche in the wall, she was unprepared. The hand was clapped over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. A knife's blade was pressed against her throat.

"Keep silent, girl," a voice hissed in her ear. "Or you will regret it." Akasha nodded carefully, to show she understood. The hand pulled her into a room. A wad of cloth was shoved in her face; the fumes of the cloth entered her nose, making her dizzy.

_They're drugging me, _she thought sleepily, before she fell into blackness.

Raph was the first to notice Akasha's absence. At first he decided she must be at the front with Leo, but she wasn't. He approached Leo.

"Where'd Akasha go?" he inquired.

"We thought she was with you," Leo said, puzzled.

"We have to find her," Raph frowned.

"Aww, is Raphie worried about Akasha?" Mikey grinned. He ducked Raph's swipe at his head.

"Don't call me 'Raphie'," Raph snarled.

"We'll continue down here and see if we can't find her mother," Leo said. "Then we'll double back and find Akasha. She can take care of herself in the meantime."

Raph nodded reluctantly.

They followed the corridor. They reached a metal door with a guard outside. Leo took care of him while Don managed to open the door.

It was empty.

"Damn!" Raph swore.

"We have to find the Shredder," Leo stated grimly. "I'll bet Quicksilver that he's behind Akasha disappearing."

"You are smarter than you look."

They spun around; Hun leaned on the doorjamb, casually pointing a Federation blaster at them.

"Ah, four freaks and a human," Hun said idly. "Are you looking for your other freak friend?"

"She's NOT a freak!" Raph took a threatening step forward; Hun's finger hit the trigger; a huge blast ripped the wall behind them apart. Raph didn't move.

"The Master will want to see you." Hun smiled cruelly. He snapped his fingers. Foot ninja's swarmed into the room, snatching their weapons away and tying their hands behind their backs.

"Come. Master Shredder is waiting." Hun led the company out of the room, dragging the others behind them.

Shredder paced his chambers, face unreadable behind his metal helmet. He slashed at a curtain impatiently with the two curved blades on his right hand; the fabric fell to the ground, its edges frayed.

"Where is Hun?" he said to himself.

"Right here, Master," Hun came into the room, hauling Raph by the shoulder. He threw the turtle onto the floor with a contemptuous snort. Leo, Don, Mikey and Casey were escorted by Foot ninja's. "We obtained the terepin freaks and their human friend with the hockey mask."

"Very good, Hun. Now I can dispose of them once and for all!" Shredder laughed evilly, throwing back his helmetted head.

Raph rolled forward, kicking out at the Shredder's stomach, where the Utrom resided. Shredder jumped out of the way.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," he hissed. "Your friend is in peril." He motioned to a cage at the far end of the room. Akasha lay there, bound and gagged.

"Akasha!" Raph yelled.

Shredder chuckled. "Unless you surrender, she will be killed," he informed them.

"Why, you…!"

Shredder flicked his wrist; Foot ninja's came forward and pulled Raphael back.

"Perhaps I should tell you why I have captured her." Shredder said. "With her powers I shall be unbeatable! I will be immortal, invincible, more so than I already am! Even those cursed Utrom's could not stop me, with her on my side."

Akasha gave a muffled yell.

"What powers?" Raph asked blankly.

"She hasn't told you?" Shredder advanced on the cage. He thrust his arm through the bars and sliced at the girl's face, opening a shallow gash across her right cheek.

Raph attempted to throw off his guards to run to Akasha's aid, but Shredder stepped aside, motioning for the turtles and Casey to watch. They turned to look at Akasha in spite of themselves. The awful cut began to shrink. It shrank and shrank until it could not be seen. It had healed itself. Akasha looked away, as if ashamed of what had just happened.

"You see?" Shredder asked. "With her on my side, I can never be harmed. Any injuries I sustain will be mended instantly! I will be unbeatable!" He cackled evilly.

Leo was inching his right hand, which had been poorly bound, toward the belt knife of the ninja holding him. Akasha noticed his attempts and managed to rip the gag off; Shredder's blade had cut through the cloth as well as her flesh.

"I'll never work for you!" she yelled, trying to keep him talking. Leo's hand was inches from the knife.

"On the contrary, my dear," Shredder said silkily. "You will do whatever I want." He snapped his fingers of his left hand and a couple of Foot ninja's came out of the shadows at the base of a pillar. They supported an unconsious Dr. Andrews. "If you don't, your mother will suffer the consequences."

Akasha's blood ran cold.

Leo grabbed the knife. The Foot ninja, absorbed in the conversation, had been lax on his hold of the turtle's wrists. All it took was a quick twist and Leo was free, the belt knife firmly in his grasp. He deftly flicked the blade against the rope, cutting his hands free. He likewise severed his brothers' bonds.

"You fool! Stop them!" Shredder screeched.

Raph raced over to Akasha's cage. He found the catch on the door and pulled it open, before stepping inside, untying Akasha's handcuffs, and scrambling outside with her again.

"Karai!" Shredder barked an order. A tall, slim woman with a katana came out of the shadows.

"Yes, Master?"

"Finish them," Shredder hissed. "For good!"

Karai launched into battle. Leo saw her and jumped to meet her, the knife in his hand. Metal clanged on metal; they landed on the ground, panting, their blades vibrating from the impact.

"Oh no, not Karai!" Raph groaned. "We'll never get out of here!" He found Casey wresting his baseball bat out of a Foot ninja's grip.

"Take _that!_" Casey yelled, twacking the ninja on the head for the third time. The black-clad warrior fell to the floor, unconcious.

"Yo, Case," Raph punched his friend on the shoulder in a friendly mannor. "We gotta get the Fearless Leader outta here before he an' Karai rip each other to pieces." He pointed to a secluded corner of the room where Leo and Karai dueled with ferocity, despite Leonardo's undersized weapon.

"I'm on it!" Casey nodded and entered the fray, bashing ninja's left and right in order to get to Leo.

"You go and help. I'll be fine." Akasha kicked a ninja in the stomach for emphesis and nicked his nunchuku before turning and knocking out another foe.

"I don't know," Raph said doubtfully.

"I'll be fine. Go. Now." Akasha didn't give him time to argue; she hooked her leg around a Foot ninja's ankle and brought him crashing to the floor before whirling and banging another ninja smartly on the head. Raph reluctantly left to aid Leo; Akasha didn't see him depart, being in the thick of combat, fending off blows and dealing them out just as fast.

"C'mon, Leo, we're goin'!" Casey was trying to pursuade the blue-banded turtle to leave from the sidelines, avoiding Karai as best he could. Raph came over and yelled to his brother, "Let's go, Fearless Leader! I think Donnie needs some help." He pointed to where a group of Foot ninja's had cornered the purple-clad turtle against a wall. Just as they saw this, though, Akasha whizzed past, nunchuku raised. The ninja's saw her too late; she smashed into them with enough force to send them sprawling, before whipping around, spotting Raph and Casey. She raced over and joined them her hazel eyes alight with battle fever.

"I'm going to finish this!" Leo cried. "Once and for all, Karai, choose; will you do the honorable thing, or the cowardly thing?"

"I will to the honorable thing Leonardo," Karai called. "By obeying my master, the Shredder!" She fell upon the terepin, viciously slashing at him with her katana.

"They're like this every time," Raph muttered to Akasha out the corner of his mouth.

Akasha looked over to where her mother was being carefully guarded by Foot ninjas. "We'll never get to my mother without Leo." She turned to the fight and raised her hands; a blackish, irredescent electricity shot from her hands to envelope Karai. The woman's eyes fluttered and she dropped; her katana fell from her hand to clatter on the floor. Leo's jaw dropped.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"I put her to sleep," Akasha informed him. Karai was indeed snoring lightly. "See? Now we can go."

"How didja do that?" Raph asked, eyes wide.

"I have… erm… powers," Akasha explained haltingly. "Like what happened when the Shredder cut me. I have powers of healing. Sleeping is one of 'em."

Leo sheathed his katana's and turned to Akasha.

"Using sorcery to win a fight is not honerable," he said slowly. Akasha made a face.

"You think I don't know that?" she wanted to know. "That's one of the reasons I hate my powers so much. It's dishonerable." She sighed, and her shoulder's slumped. Raph glared at Leo.

"Hey, Raph, think fast!" Don yelled; Raph whirled around and caught his twin sai's by the hilts. Leo likewise caught his katana's, thrusting the knife into his belt.

Shredder was duelling Michelangelo; Mikey was losing.

"We have _gotta _get out of here!" Akasha said. She scanned the room. "You guys help me get my mom, then let's _go!_"

"I here ya there!" Casey agreed whole-heartedly, pausing in his thorough pummeling of a Foot ninja to glance at Dr. Andrew's prone form.

The group made their way toward Akasha's mother, cutting through the crowd of ninja's. Akasha sent beams of electricity at them, sending waves of them to the floor, fast asleep. They reached Dr. Andrew's, and sliced their way efficiently through her guards. Raph hoisted her unconcious form onto his shoulder and turned to the door. Leo bellowed, "DON! MIKE! We're leaving, c'mon!" and followed. Akasha brought up the rear. She cast a glance around her; chaos reigned, ninja's exchanging blows with Don and Mikey, whome were both retreating, panting hard. She heard Raph shout something, then felt a strange thudding sensation in her chest. She looked down. A black arrow was protruding, blood streaming around it, soaking her shirt. A ninja with a bow and quiver of arrows stood a little way off, she noticed.

A burning, prickling sensation quickly spread up her, starting at the horrible wound. Even as she felt it, she knew it was too late. Her fingers felt numb, her ears roared, and she fell into a black void. The last thing she heard was Raphael screaming…

A/N: First of all... please don't hate me for the cliffie! (sobs) Second of all, do you think I should change the rating to T? I can't decide. By the way, special thanks to Canadian Pierate Queen and virtual wenrog for helping me with the story. I couldn't have done it without you guys! I'll try to update as quickly as possible, next time.


	11. Chapter 11: Happy Ending

A/N: Okay. Don't let the chapter title confuse you: I'll probably do an Epilogue, so this isn't gonna be the last chapter, exactly. I wanted to wrap it all up, 'cause it's been dragged out too long. If something doesn't add up to something in a previous chapter, tell me in a review.

Chapter 11

Happy Ending

White. A huge, blank space. She blinked. Where was she?

_I'm dead. _The realization hit her hard. _This is it. I've died._ That can't be right… _Perhaps I'm not dead. _She brightened at this prospect. _Let's see… _she tried to wake up, but it was if she was trapped within a dream, and unable to break out of it.

_What happened? _She remembered the enemy archer hitting her with an arrow… she _was _dead. No way could she have survived that.

"I'm dead." The sound erupted from her, only to emerge a hoarse croak. Her eyes snapped open. More white. Except this was an off-white colour, with stains here and there. And it had a texture, like interwoven threads. It tickled her nose. She sat up.

She was in the infirmary, in the lair. The off-white was a sheet that had been pulled up over her, hiding her face. She looked down to see the horrible arrow had been removed, and she had been bandaged. Her head throbbed. With extreme care, she slid her legs out from under the sheet and onto the floor; the cold cement sent spasms of pain up her legs, which she ignored. She unhooked a dressing gown from beside the bed and put it on before hobbling out of the room.

The lair was deserted. She padded cautiously toward the kitchen with the intention of getting a drink for her parched mouth when she heard voices emitting from the room.

"- is going crazy. He didn't even stick around when we brought her down, just ran topside and disappeared. Splinter says to let him alone, but –"

"He'll calm down. You want some more tea?" The sound of liquid being poured into a cup; someone took a gulp and sighed appreciatively. Akasha's mouth began to water.

"Sensei said we'd better bury her when Raph gets back." It was a bleak statement.

_They think I'm dead!_ Akasha thought. _So did I. I'm glad they waited. _

She leaned a little too hard on the door; it opened, and she stumbled into the room. Three green heads turned. Three sets of eyes of varying colours stared at her in disbelief.

"Ahh! It's a ghost!" Michelangelo screamed, dumping his cup of tea all over the table.

"Ash? But, you're dead!" Donatello blinked. "We're hallucinating."

"Nope. Try again." Akasha was in no mood for this. She was tired, thirsty, and she ached all over. Her mind was teeming with unanswered questions. She wanted to know what had happened to her mother, and where Raphael was. It was Leonardo who pulled up a chair for her and poured her some tea. She drank greedily, oblivious to the scalding temperature. She sat in the chair. The turtles kept looking at her carefully, as if she was going to explode at any minute.

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Akasha?" Mikey asked.

"Well _I'm _sure not Akasha. I ache too much. Akasha's powers would fix it," she grumbled. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost twenty-four hours," Don answered promptly. "Master Splinter removed the arrow, and bandaged you up incase, but… you didn't have a pulse. We all thought you were…" he trailed off.

"What about my mom?"

"She's still unconsious, but she'll recover. April is with her."

"And Touch and Go?"

"Chris intercepted them and got the information. They fled the scene. The information is here now, for safekeeping. Chris is at Leatherhead's place."

"Okay." Akasha eyed the turtles. "I am real, you know. I'm not going to explode, or anything."

"But, you were _dead,_" Leo murmured. "You didn't have a pulse. Your heart stopped."

"Only 'cause the arrow actually hit my heart," Akasha explained patiently. "My powers took a while to kick in." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm exhausted… where's Raph?"

They hesitated.

"He went topside after you… y'know. We havn't seen him since." Leo sounded worried.

"And Splinter?"

"Somewere in the lair. You're asking a lot of questions for somebody who just died."

"I didn't die. My life was just sort of postponed," Akasha sniffed primly.

"She's scaring me," Mikey whined.

"Akasha?" April had entered the room. "You're all right!" she hugged her neice. "You had me worried."

"Sorry. I would've woken up sooner, had I the chance. Is mom okay?"

April's smile was tired. "She'll be fine. They smashed her pretty hard on the head, but at least she doesn't have a concussion. I don't know what we'd have done without Donnie. I'm glad _someone _other than Splinter has a level head! He was calm throughout the whole thing." She smiled at the purple-banded turtle. He blushed and looked down.

Akasha couldn't help it. She giggled. Mikey heard her and burst out laughing. Leo did his best to look disapproving, but failed, and broke out into a smile. Don looked confused, and April gave her neice the evil eye.

"This is to noisy for me," April sniffed. "Let's continue our discussion elsewhere, Don." She sailed out of the door, a bewildered Donatello following in her wake. Mikey lapsed into hiccups.

"Did you see the look on his face?" he gasped, wiping away the tears of mirth that had accumulated on his bandanna. "Like this." He made a grotesque face of Don, eyes crossed, tongue lolling out the corner of his mouth. This caused Akasha to laugh all the harder, until her sides ached even more.

"I see that Miss Andrews is feeling better." Splinter came into the room, beady black eyes watching Akasha curiously.

"Hi – hic! – Master," Mikey greeted his sensei. "Akasha isn't – hic! – dead!"

"Yes, I can see that," Splinter told his son, eyes crinkling with mirth.

They explained about Akasha's powers, and Splinter listened with interest. Finally Akasha asked,

"Do you know where Raph is?"

"His is above," Splinter said solemnly. "I do not know his exact whereabouts, but I suspect he is at his friend Casey Jones's apartment. He usually goes there when he is not feeling his best."

"I'll go and get dressed," Akasha said, having noticed she was still in her dressing gown. "April has some spare clothes here, I think I'll fit into. Then I'll go and tell him I'm okay." She left the kitchen and made her way back to the infirmary. She was just at the door when the front doors opened and Raphael entered. He looked tired and miserable. He shuffled toward her, but did not see her because he was staring at his feet.

"Er, Raph?" Akasha asked tentatively. His head snapped up. His eyes widened.

"I'm seein' things," he whispered.

"Not you too," Akasha sighed. "I'm _not dead. _I have healing powers, remember?"

"Donnie said you were dead," Raph shook his head. "That arrow hit ya in the heart. It was fatal."

"I have really _powerful _powers." Akasha looked at him in concern. "Are you okay…?"

Raphael looked like he wanted to do or say something, but he seemed to change his mind. All he said was, "Yeah, I'm okay." They went to the kitchen where Mikey and Leo were finishing their umpteenth cups of tea. Splinter was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, dude!" Mikey greeted his red-clad brother. "Where ya been?"

"Casey's," Raph answered, sitting down. "I usually go there when… I don't feel so good." He turned to Akasha. "You're sure you're -?"

"Real? Yes. Believe me, I hurt to much to _not _be real." Akasha rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ya look dead on your feet," Raph agreed.

"Gee, thanks," said Akasha acidly. "I needed that."

Chris arrived a few hours later, followed by Leatherhead. The two giant mutants were busily exchanging tips of how to reprogramme computer systems. Chris held a metal tube in one enormous paw: Dr. Andrew's information. Raph, Leo, Akasha, and Mikey were watching TV. If they noticed that April and Don, both somewhat red in the face, slunk into the room a little while later, no one commented.

Akasha's mother woke up later that day, slightly disoriated, but perfectly healthy, save the purple knot on her head where the Foot had hit her. Akasha filled her in and introduced her to the turtles in a clipped voice. She also added about her powers saving her. She noted that the turtles were now trying to sidle out of the room, to leave them in private.

"So your powers finally have a use." Lilly sighed. She smoothed the coarse sheet fabric on her bed in the infermary, not looking at her daughter.

"You could call it that," Akasha agreed flatly. "They stopped me from dying, yes. But what about when I don't what to stay alive? I'll have to die of old age eventually. What about that?"

"I was not aware of the side-effects," her mother said softly, dull green eyes still intent on the sheets. She ran a hand through her shoulder-length pale ginger hair with agitation. "I did not know that it would prevent you from dying. It was not even supposed to touch you. I was going to test it on one of my test subjects –"

"You still don't get it!" Akasha cried furiously. "I _hate _you using people and animals as test subjects! It's disgusting! You don't ask their permission. You catch them and use them against their will! You shouldn't even have _made _the mutagen in the first place!"

Her mother had paled considerably during this outburst. Now she ducked her head further and continued her study of the bedclothes. Finally she answered, "It was a mistake. I accidentally mixed a portion of mutagen with an elixier I had been working on. I had intended to transfer the elixier to a premutated subject, but I erred and was too hasty. I thought to blend the two beforhand, but I was wrong." She added in a whisper, "I'm sorry."

"I guess I shouldn't have wandered off," Akasha said bitterly. "I guess I should have stayed in the office. But what could I do? All you ever did was bring me to the lab, dump me in the office, and leave me in the care of Chris, or some other assisstent. Then you'd run off to investigate some new mutating chemical or some illegal acid your agent brought you. I was bored one evening, and you'd forgot to lock the door, so I slipped out."

"And found my test room with all my mutagen." Lilly's eyes were shadowed. "I remember finding you in there – you were only six – sitting in a pool of slime. The broken canister at your feet, my biggest mistake…" she trailed off.

"You thought I'd be dead within minutes," Akasha murmured. "But I was okay. You washed me off, scolded me, forbid me to leave the office again. You bought me toys to entertain myself with. Then you noticed changes."

"Little things." Her mother nodded. "When every normal eight-year-old child had chicken-pox, you were fine. When everyone in our apartment building got the flu, you were fine. Any injuries you sustained were never there for long. You never got sick. You were never ill. I realized which mutagen you must have touched, and presumed that you powers could not possible hurt you. So I gave up looking for an antidote and returned to my work."

"But you didn't think it my prevent me from dying?" Akasha asked.

"Do you wish you _had _have died from that wound?" Lilly wanted to know. "Aren't you _glad _you're alive?"

"Yes," Akasha said slowly. "But I don't want to _never _die, if you know what I mean."

"Perhaps we can find an antidote," he mother suggested. "I had been very close to finding one when I gave up. As soon as I can I'll see what I can do."

"Yo, dudettes! Pizza's here!" Michelangelo's voice rang out. Akasha grinned at her mother's startled expression.

"You get used to Mikey," she reassured her. "C'mon, you must be starving."

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In the weeks that followed, Lilly slowly adjusted to the turtles and Splinter. She, Don, Leatherhead and Chris often sat in the makeshift laboritory, exchanging information and various scientific theories. April sometimes joined them. Akasha noted that she and Don would, on occasion, disappear for a while. When she questioned her aunt about this, the read-headed woman simply flapped her hand and changed the subject. Akasha let her do in, tucking a smirk behind her hand.

Akasha trained with the turtles now. She knew how to handle several kinds of weapons. She showed them her chigiriki. Mikey begged her to let him use it; he was the best one at using it, partly because of his nunchuku's.

One day her mother was busily researching an antidote for Akasha. The bruise on her head still pained her some, and she rubbed it with her hand absently.

"Does that still hurt?" Akasha asked, coming up behind her mother.

"A little." Her mother shrugged. Akasha prepared to send a stream of healing into it, but she pulled back. Her power was only a weak, dull flicker as opposed to its original fire.

"My powers!" she gasped. "They're almost gone!" Her mother smiled sadly.

"I've been meaning to tell you," she said, closing her book. "You used so much of your powers when you stopped yourself from dying that you have almost none left. It's one of the side-effects; I've been doing a lot of research about it." She patted her daughter's hand sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

But Akasha was elated.

"You mean I couldn't prevent myself from dying again?" she asked.

"I very much doubt it." Her mother shook her head. "You have so little left."

"That's great!" Akasha beamed. "You don't have to find an antidote after all!" she hugged her mother enthusiastically and bounced out of the room to tell April.

"So you're not immortal anymore?" Raph asked. They sat on the sofa. Akasha had just told him about her powers shrinking.

"Nope!" she smiled happily.

"Well, so long's you're happy." He shrugged.

"Oh, yes, I am," she agreed. They fell silent.

"I guess you're gonna go home soon," Raph finally said.

"Yeah, I guess." Akasha traced the pattern of the faded sofa with one forefinger. "But I'll always visit, if I can."

"Yeah, I doubt Mikey'll be able to survive without your chigiriki to entertain him," Raph said dryly. "I've never seen him so occupied."

"Mm hm." Akasha glanced at him. "You'll come and visit, I suppose? When I'm back at home? It's not that far from April's place…"

"Yeah, I'll come," Raph interrupted with a grin. Akasha's stomach fluttered. She swallowed the feeling.

"'Cause I could do with some help with training. I'd be better if I could spar with someone." She knew she was babbling, but she couldn't help it.

He nodded. His eyes never left her face. She flushed. He noticed and his grin widened, teeth flashing. Suddenly they were closer than before; his hand touched hers. She stopped herself from instinctively jerking backwards. He leaned in slightly…

"AKASHA!"

_I'm gonna kill Mikey. _Akasha thought calmly. _Kill him. Kill him over and over till he's very dead…_

"Probably got the chigiriki chain in a knot." Raph muttered. He looked annoyed too. Akasha finally plucked up her courage and kissed him at lightening speed on the cheek before launching herself off the sofa and yelling in response, "I'm coming Mike!" She practically sprinted toward his room.

A/N: I added romance! YaY! Did I write it well? Lemme know. Don't forget I'll probably add an Epilogue.


	12. Chapter 12: Epilogue

A/N: Epilogue time! YAY! I want to thank all my reviewers: **oceamaka. TOAT, Cynlee, Kyiana Wisperwing, Lunar-ninja, Thalpomene, Aaron Smiley,Vampy, Canadian Pierate Queen, Raven001**(anonymous reviewer)**, Mewfem, Donny's Girl, BubblyShell22, virtual wenrog,Mac **(anonymous reviewer)**, Fk306 animelover, Jessiy Landroz, Chupip **(anonymous reviewer)! THANKS SO MUCH!I knowthis chapter isreally short, and kinda nothing to do with the story, but hey, I like it. Read it. Just 'cause I'm paranoid, this chapter is rated'T'.

Epilogue.

Akasha sat on the balcony of her house, watching the sun sink below the buildings of New York City. She was on the swing chair, hugging her knees to her chest. A book lay on the seat beside her.

A slight breeze lifted her hair; she let it caress her face, stirring the sleeves of her shirt en route. She sighed happily, leaning her cheek against her arm, surveying the street below her. A sea of lights winked in and out, the faded sounds of car horns blaring could be heard. All was peaceful…

A pigeon suddenly took flight from its perch above the balcony; the sound made Akasha jump. She flipped off the chair in a fighting crouch, eyes flicking from side to side.

"We've trained ya well," a deep voice chuckled from above. Raphael flipped down onto the balcony beside the girl. She stood up and faced him, hands on her hips.

"You could've _told _me," she huffed. "Do you _always _have to sneak up behind me?"

"I'm a ninja, Ash. Tha's what I do." He shrugged, motioning to the swing chair. "May I…?"

"Ooh, very gentlemanly," she sniffed. "Go ahead." She sat herself and moved the book to give him room. He sat.

"So, what's new in the lair?" she asked.

"Oh, Mr. High and Mighty iz jus' bein' a pain in the shell," Raph muttered. "Somethin' abou' not meditatin' enough."

"Meditating is very relaxing," Akasha pointed out fairly. "I do it a lot. It really helps with stress and stuff."

"I'd sooner take tha Shell Cycle for a spin," Raph answered. "_Much _more relaxing."

"Riiiiight."

"So, anythin' new in school?"

"Uh huh. I got an A on that essay I was writing. And Angel's going on a date with Jason, tomorrow, I think."

"Mikey won't be happy 'bout that," Raph chuckled. "He's got a mondo-sized crush on her."

"Yeah, I overheard him reading poetry to a picture of her in his room," Akasha laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't tell him."

"Nah. I'll love rubbing it in his face!" Raph cackled.

"You're evil," Akasha shook her head in mock sadness. "So, how's Space Case?"

Raphael told her the latest news that she didn't already know, mostly because she was always busy with schoolwork. Since her powers shrinking her grades had improved considerably, to her mothers delight. Klunk, apparently, had caught a cockroach in the bathroom, and Mikey had rewarded the kitten with his favorite cat treats. Raph shuddered when he said this. Leonardo had been training to the point of obsession lately. The sparks were flying more than usual between him and Raph. Donatello and Chris were getting along really well. The wolf-mutant was almost always in the lair nowadays, or with Leatherhead.

Akasha sat back and listened contentedly. She loved hearing news from the lair. Raphael's deep voice was pleasant to listen to. The sun had sunk well past the horizon now, leaving a trail of pink-streaked clouds in its wake. Stars were beginning to appear. Her eyelids drooped, and she leaned against Raph's arm. A yawn escaped her.

"You tired?" the red-banded turtle asked, glancing at her curiously.

"Exhausted," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I've not got a decent night's sleep in four days."

"P'raps I should go." Raph got up and picked her up. She grabbed the book before it toppled to the floor as he slid the door open and went into her bedroom. He deposited her on her bed and put the book on her bedside table.

"I'll come back tomorrow," he said firmly. Hesitating, he bent down and kissed her carefully on the mouth. She paused, and then kissed him back, hands gripping the back rim of his shell to keep her in the sitting position. One of his hands brushed her hair, the other one braced against her bed to keep him from falling over. Finally he drew back, rather red in the face.

"Uh, well, I'll see you tomorrow," he muttered, backing away. He fled out of the door.

"'Night, Raph!" she called after his retreating shell.

Sleep was soon there. Akasha pulled a blanket over her and closed her eyes. The wind from the slightly ajar door ruffled the pages of Apirl's journal, lying quietly on the bedside table.

A/N: So: Icky? I had trouble writing it, personally. Anyways, here's something I forgot to put in aprevious authers note:

You know that really cool line back in chapter 11? 'I'll kill him. Kill him. Kill him over and over till he's very dead...' well, it's not really mine. I'm not sure who's it is, but whoever came up with it, I give you allthe credit. Hope I didn't offend anyone. It just fit the part so well. Well, see ya later!


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